


Your Secrets End Up Splashed On The News Front Page

by AtomicBrunette



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, First Post, I Don't Even Know, I have the feeling it’ll be getting violent but I won’t make promises, I'll update tags as I go, I'm From England So My Americanism Is Shit, I'm a dumb bitch, If This Flops We'll Pretend It Didn't Happen, It'll get angsty, Kinda Like The Boys But Less Corrupt, i apologise in advance, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-22 09:00:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30036234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtomicBrunette/pseuds/AtomicBrunette
Summary: “I can’t believe this…”“You can’t believe it? I’ve been bunking up with some superpowered nutcase for the past six months!”“Don’t call me that.”She’d taken a step towards me with her warning, and I decided to do my best to hold her gaze bravely. I didn’t feel brave. I felt scared.ORShelby's a superhero and Toni's an agent for the rebellion fighting against the heroes.Also they're roommates at college and hopelessly in love.Title based of The Lucky One by Taylor SwiftWill update 2 chapters (one from each POV) every few days <3
Relationships: Fatin Jadmani/Leah Rilke, Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 61
Kudos: 149





	1. The One With The Hero's Boring Day Habits

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> So this is my first fic, and the story is kinda based on this story I wrote a little while back, but I figured it'd be a nice Shoni adaptation!
> 
> Hopefully you guys enjoy this! Please feel free to let me know what I could do better, constructive criticism is always welcome!
> 
> On a final note, the first few chapters are kinda just set up, I promise it'll pick up!

-SHELBY-

“Alright folks, assignments in by the end of the week, okay?”

A handful of people nodded their heads or replied with a simple ‘Yeah, sure’, but most of us just crammed through the door at the sound of the buzzer. I adjusted my shoulder strap, so my messenger bag didn’t cut into my neck. I checked my phone, scrolling aimlessly through notifications, one standing out clearly from the rest.

**_Toni:_ ** _Ur class over? Coffee’s getting cold_

I smiled at my phone before tapping out my response.

**_You:_ ** _Omw now_

I stuffed my phone back into my pocket before making my way to our dorm. When I first started college, I was – to say the least – apprehensive about having to share _everything_ ; showers, toilets, even my room – but it was cheap, and I wasn’t exactly in a position to be picky, _I’m still not_. Now, though, I was thankful everything was on campus and not all that far from my classes.

I climbed the stairs to my floor and fumbled in the pocket of my grey trench for my room key. I kept searching half-absently half-focused when I reached my door and _still_ hadn’t come across my key. I took a moment to pause to look more thoroughly when I heard movement from behind the door. I stopped looking for my key immediately and began a desperate yet futile attempt to fix my hair before my roommate inevitably opened the door. But she did. And I wasn’t finished.

“Hey Shelbs,” she smirked as she held up my key, swinging it from her index finger. “You forgot this again, figured I should stay in.”

“Thanks, Toni,” I smiled as she plopped the key in my hand carelessly.

 _Toni Shalifoe._ A distressingly beautiful girl, about 5’3, with dark curls that always fell over her shoulders _perfectly._ She usually rotated the same three outfits, but the Texas heat must’ve been getting to her, her usual black and orange basketball sweater ditched for a plain white t-shirt.

“How was class?”

“Borin’,” I replied truthfully, setting my bag on my desk chair before slumping down onto my bed. “Andrew kept flicking chunks of eraser at the back of my head again.”

Toni clicked her tongue as she handed me a mug of still-warm coffee. “He’s such a dick – if you want me to go fuck his shit up, my offer still stands.”

Ever since I’d broken up with Andrew after I found out about his cheating habit, he did everything in his power to get on my nerves. When I’d come back to Toni and I’s room with my hair in clumps from his ‘little game’ (as he so eloquently put it) one day, Toni wasn’t exactly _pleased_. She threatened to smash his car, and his dorm… and his face.

I pleaded with her not to, told her he wasn’t worth it, and she eventually agreed, but she was quick to make sure I knew if I ever wanted her to, she’d always make time specifically to ruin Andrew’s day.

“Didn’t you have a dance class meeting or somethin’?”

Toni shrugged as she stretched her left arm behind her back. “Decided against it.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and set my coffee on the (ironically) tea stained ‘ _C 25H28N6O7_’ coaster my granny got me after convincing herself I was majoring in chemistry. “You seemed really excited,” I pushed. “Any particular reason you didn’t wanna go?”

“I came to my senses?” Toni defended. “Does anything about me say ‘dancing enthusiast’?”

She gestured down at herself and I just rolled my eyes. Ever since I’d met Toni six months ago, she was constantly signing up to things she’d never actually end up going to. The only thing that girl was committed to was her basketball. I tried a number of times to get her to stop, to try and save a bit of money on the sign-up fees, but she never seemed to miss the cash despite often complaining about the lac she had. I soon gave up on that mission.

I looked out the window and was pleasantly surprised to see the creamy dark of the night creeping its way into the sky. I smiled to myself and checked the time: _10:30_.

“You going out?” I asked absently as I stared into the evening sky and sipped my drink.

Toni stood to meet me, touching the small of my back briefly to let me know she was there. A shiver ran up my spine at the touch, but I was pretty sure I managed to play it off. _I hope_.

“Yeah – Bach’s putting another student night on,” she grinned mischievously. “You wanna come?”

I sighed, my shoulders and heart sinking with disappointment. Linh Bach ran one of the city’s most famous bars: _The Island_. The previously failing bar was brought back from its climbing debt when it was – quite literally – hit with the super-powered group taking the world by storm; _The Unsinkables._ The trio had seemingly come from nowhere, the rag-tag team having nothing noticeably in common; Conveyance seemed to lead the group through the media’s hounding, but none of them seemed to be _‘in charge’_. Freestyle always seemed to run hot – _literally­._ She’d impressed everyone when she broke the sound barrier to rescue an eight-year-old from a burning building. Optic was the most mysterious of the three. She could turn invisible at will, and whenever a camera managed to catch her a moment, she’d pop out of view.

Linh had a photo framed of her with a roughed-up Conveyance when she’d teleported into Linh’s then gastro-pub during a fight with The Watchdogs – a rebellious group hellbent on destroying The Unsinkables. No one knew if they had any _real_ powers like The Unsinkables or were just highly trained, but either way, they were incredibly illusive. The police had been working with The Unsinkables to try and combat The Watchdogs, but they hadn’t been able to catch any operatives. _Yet_.

“I, uh… I can’t, sorry,” I sighed. “I’ve got this assignment I really need to get done-”

“Hey, no worries,” Toni smiled, cutting me off. “I might be back late though – I’ll try and be quiet.”

I smiled back at her as she slipped on her worn khaki utility jacket and flung a small bag over her shoulder. She hugged me from behind before waving me off as she left.

_Phew._

I sat back on my bed and relaxed my shoulders. I _wished_ I could go with Toni; the time I get to spend with her anyway is so non-existent I may as well pass her on the street for a better look, but since I took on my new…

 _Internship_ ,

I couldn’t even go out with her for a drink.

I sighed and pulled out the duffle bag I kept neatly stuffed under my bed behind a heavy box of textbooks and grabbed my coat from the back of my chair. I headed out the door and pulled it shut until the lock clicked.

Part of my was annoyed I couldn’t have that drink with Toni, but I knew what I was about to do was too important to miss.


	2. The One With The Battle Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni's POV
> 
> We get an insight into the inner-workings of The Watchdogs as they prepare to intercept a bank robbery The Unsinkables are said to be stopping.

-TONI-

I _hated_ lying to Shelby, I really did, but some things were better left unsaid, especially when it could put her life in danger. I made my way down the stairs from our housing and pulled my hair out from under the collar of my jacket as I slipped under the night’s cover and down a series of alleyways. If I didn’t know the path so well, I’d get completely lost in a matter of seconds; not only were the twists and turns on multiple levels, but across multiple streets. I had to double back on myself in unique ways every time I went to my secret ‘job’ which was a pain in the ass, but I knew it was for everyone’s safety, including my own, and including Shelby’s.

I turned a final corner and headed down a set of crumbling stone stairs which lead to a red rusting metal ‘ _exit_ ’ door. I quickly checked over my shoulder before leaning into the door and quickly yanking it back towards me, unlocking the heavy metal with a loud _thunk_. I dipped inside and slammed the door shut behind me.

I’d hated the white LED strip lights when I first started here. Now, though, I found them oddly comforting. They ramped up my adrenaline, making me all the more eager to get out ‘in the field’. I finally reached the bolted security door at the end of the bright corridor and knocked on it three times. Two bolts slid open on the other side and the door flung open.

“Christ Shalifoe! Took your damn time!”

“Sorry Fatin, my roommate left her key – didn’t wanna lock her out.”

Fatin rolled her eyes. “that Shelby, fucking forgetful bitch.”

I laughed and punched her in the arm lightly before dumping my bag and jacket on an office chair. Fatin followed me over and sat on my desk, gossiping away about a guy in her class who kept flirting with her despite her constant rejections.

Fatin Jadmani was the newbie before I turned up. She was our fashion designer, though she forced everyone to call her the ‘textile manager’. She herself was always draped in expensive garments from all over the world and boy did she look _good_. Her knack for pairing fabrics to skin tones and hair colours was unmatched, and the way she managed to pack layers of armoured material into our tight-fitting gear was a work of art.

“So you got anywhere with her yet?” Fatin asked, tuning me back into our conversation.

“What?”

“With Shelby? Aren’t you two like, hooking up?”

I grinned and quirked my left eyebrow. “Not sensing jealousy, am I Jadmani?”

Fatin giggled and slapped my thigh when our boss, Director Dean Young came over with Leah Rilke, our tech girl. Director Young stood just over six-feet tall and was never seen in anything other than a suit. Not that he needed the stature or formalwear to command the attention of the entire room. He was a stern-looking man with lips that rarely broke into a smile, though when they did it was uncharacteristically warm.

For all his harshness, he cared about everyone of us in a unique way; Leah was clearly one of his favourites, basically giving her whatever she wanted, though Leah never abused that power. After a previous worker from external communications made a pass at her, she told Director Young and he was _immediately_ fired, like, within the hour.

He valued Fatin’s opinion in a way no-one else seemed to. Most of the team tended to mock her for being an outwardly girly-girl, but Director Young never spoke down to her and often took into consideration Fatin’s thoughts when regarding things, even outside of fashion decisions.

Then there was me. People often said I was his _clear_ favourite despite me being the newest and one of the youngest here. I dismissed such allegations to my colleagues faces, but I had to admit he looked out for me in a way he didn’t with the others. His private training lessons were standard for new recruits, but I learned later that they rarely lasted the two hours mine frequently took.

Fatin hopped off my desk immediately and we both stood straight, hands clasped tightly behind our backs.

“Shalifoe, Jadmani, at ease,” Director Young nodded as we both relaxed at his command. “We’ve been alerted Sinkables are on their way to stop a bank robbery in progress. Rilke will brief you, then her and Shalifoe will head out. Jadmani, I expect you to have them fitted and ready in ten.”

While Fatin nodded, Leah stepped forward with a tablet ready to brief us and Director Young turned ready to leave when I spoke up.

“Pardon me, Director, but since when did we get involved during an actual crime stop?” The politeness of it was as fake as ever, but I didn’t dare speak out of tone to the Director’s face.

Director Young looked over his shoulder at me and considered my question for a moment before turning back around and returning to the now trio.

“Apparently this robbery is nothing but a publicity stunt. Support for Sinkables dropped .005% over the weekend, more people are turning to suspicion. If we intercept this successfully, we might be able to win over an even larger proportion,” our Director explained.

“If this is so big why are you trusting me?” I persisted. “I’ve only been out on the field a handful of times, only once actually _against_ Sinkables, and even then I was only on backup callout.”

Director Young’s eyes focused specifically on me in what should’ve been an intimidating glare, but felt more like a considered study instead.

“You have to start somewhere, Toni,” he returned. The use of my first name made my whole body tense. “Rilke has coming up to seven years of experience, five in field. You’ll have backup on callout which can reach you in seconds, and if you need me, I’ll be on coms the whole time. You’ll be just fine.”

I swallowed and nodded quickly, standing up straighter in regret of asking in the first place.

“Any more questions, Shalifoe?”

I shook my head, feeling my cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. “No, Sir. Thank you.”

Director Young held my gaze a moment longer before turning away and leaving to inform other operatives.

“You keep talking out of line, you won’t stay the favourite long,” Leah teased as she placed her tablet down on my desk and went to retrieve her own chair.

I clicked my tongue and folded my arms, still trying to control the embarrassment on my emblazoned cheeks. “You’re really one to talk – besides, am I not allowed to be nervous?”

“Sure,” Fatin replied as Leah sat in her wheeled-over chair, logging into her tablet. “But not in front of him.”

She leaned in over Leah’s shoulder, her currently purple-dipped hair brushing Leah’s neck ever so slightly. Anyone with two eyes and a comprehension of love could see those two were head over heels for each other. Apart from them, apparently. They were both too nervous to confess their feelings, which was weird for the usually brash and bold Fatin. When I first started, it was obvious my blatant flirtations towards Fatin won me _no_ points with Leah, but when I did the same with her she seemed to relax a little around the issue, though I was pretty sure some of that was due to her obvious embarrassment.

“Honestly, it seems pretty routine, we just have to make sure stealth is a top priority,” Leah began. “Toni, you and me will head to the roof so we can get a better scope of the situation. When Sinkables enter, we let them do their shit, then we spring them on their way out. We should catch them off guard with that alone, and if we use a smokescreen ariel combo, they’ll be too confused to know what hit them.”

“ _Ariel?_ ”

“Well yeah, we’ll still be attached to our wires from zipping down from the roof,” she clarified.

I bit my lip and nodded for her to continue as I stepped in closer.

“Basically, we’re just trying to get them on the floor and disappear. They’ll be humiliated.”

“The public think they’re losing power,” I filled in the gaps aloud. “That’s actually kinda smart.”

Fatin grinned and spun her head around, hair flicking Leah slightly. “Almost like we know what we’re doing, right?” she joked.

I tilted my head at her to show I was unamused, but the grin on my face betrayed that.

“Anyways, I kinda wanna get you in the lighter gear ‘cause you’ll need to be quick and I don’t want to compromise your zipline, but they might be too low impact,” Fatin mused. “One good hit and you’re fucked.”

“So we don’t get hit,” I joked. “Come on, you better get us ready to go before Klein pops a vein.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys have enjoyed! I'll try and post one chapter from both Shelby's and Toni's POV every few days! 
> 
> Any constructive criticism is welcome <3


	3. The One Where The Hero Becomes The Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Shelby passed up on the opportunity to go out with Toni to sneak off to her 'internship', but Toni wasn't going off to the bar at all; she has her own secret job in which she fights off the superpowered-members of The Unsinkables under the watchful eye of Director Young.
> 
> This Chapter:
> 
> Shelby gets properly inducted into The Unsinkables, but can she wear the costume? Is she really ready?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I was gonna post these next two in a couple days, but I feel like y’all may as well have them instead of me just sitting on them 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! <3

-SHELBY-

I’ve been sneaking off here for just over a month now, but my heart never failed to race every time I approach the shiny-new office building. I’m sure there are probably people around the world that would _kill_ to have what I have, and honestly, I could understand that. It’s not something I’d burden people with, though. It was a difficult line to walk, and the people here – _people like me_ – we were different. I stepped into the office block and marched right up to the front desk as confidently as I could muster.

“Evenin’ Miss. Goodkind,” smiled the receptionist Dorothy Campbell in an all-too-knowing gaze.

“Is, uh, everyone ready?” I asked in a failed attempt to be nonchalant.

Dottie’s lips curved into a smile threatening to spill a laugh from it’s corners. “They are, Miss. Goodkind. Would you like to be _escorted_?”

I rolled the inside of my lip in-between my teeth to stop me from breaking a smile. The ‘joke’ we both shared wasn’t even funny, but the secrecy surrounding us, the mystery no-one even bother to ask about (because why would they?) was enough for both of us to see the humorous side. Dottie stood from behind the reception desk and straightened out her freshly ironed dress-shirt.

It was funny seeing Dottie like this, all neat and tidy and _smart_. Her usual cargo pants had been replaced with a black pencil skirt that clung to her gorgeously. Her hazel eyes were almost always smiling even when her mouth wasn’t, and the faint sprinkling of freckles over her nose made her seem more friendly and approachable than her facial expressions usually let on. Not that she wasn’t friendly – the girl had a heart of gold.

She led me through to a meeting hall with three other people, all sipping on various beverages. Our co-ordinator, Gretchen Klein, wasn’t anything but cold and uninviting, but she was good at what she did. As soon as me and Dottie entered the room, Gretchen rolled her eyes and glared at us to hurry up and sit down.

“Nice of you to join us ladies,” she said sarcastically, throwing a file between the two of us.

“Hey Sparky,” Rachel Reid mocked as she side-eyed me while sipping on what looked like orange juice.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at Rachel’s twin sister Nora who smiled back at me and pushed over a glass of water sheepishly. I took it thankfully.

“If this little disruption is _quite_ finished,” Gretchen chimed in, “I’d quite like to get to this before we miss it entirely. We’re looking at a bank robber, people. This is a big one for the public, so I don’t want you fucking this up!”

I shuffled in my seat. _A bank robbery._ I repeated in my head.

The Unsinkables found me when I – completely accidently – blew up a street of lamppost lights. I was sixteen, and angry, and my late night walk back to my house _should_ have gone without a hitch, but a group of three drunk boys decided to whistle at me, and I couldn’t help but lose it. It was then I discovered I had electrical-manipulating abilities. It sounds cooler than it is, though. The more I realised what I could do, the more I panicked, and the more I panicked, the more stuff would just explode randomly around me. It was Dottie that found me just over a three years later. Admittedly, it wasn’t the most flattering meeting; my mascara had run past the point of recovery, my hands loosely clutching a half-empty bottle of bottom-shelf vodka as I sat with my back against my neighbour’s full trash can, tears hopelessly drenching my shirt in a post-breakup meltdown.

She picked me up and brushed me down, and I repaid her in the oh-so-kind way of vomiting on her shoes. I apologised profusely and hadn’t stop until she eventually sat me down and told me she completely forgave me. From there, she’d began to train me.

“We bringing Shelby?” she asked before Gretchen could continue.

Gretchen tucked her clipboard under her arm and placed her hands on her hips. “ _No,_ Conveyance, we _can’t._ ”

“Ah come on Gretch! You keep her cooped up in here all the time she’ll be useless when we actually need her!” Dottie persisted. “Training can only go so far; she needs _real_ experience.”

I played with the silver cross around my neck and looked everywhere _but_ at Gretchen. Her domineering gaze had bored into mine so many times, I didn’t need to meet her eyes to know the _exact_ glare she was giving me.

I wanted to go, desperately, and I was ready; my training with Dottie had weeded out a lot of the imperfections with my powers. I could control them now. While I wasn’t exactly _good_ , I could do basic defence and attack with my abilities, and all of us took part in routine army-like training which was needlessly brutal. I _knew_ I could do a field mission, it was just a matter of _if_ Gretchen agreed.

“Shelby,” she stated strongly. I raised my head to her commanding voice. “do you feel up to this?”

My eyes lit up and before I realised it, I’d shot from my seat. “Yes, Mrs. Klein! Yes! I am!”

Gretchen nodded for me to sit down and I obliged, smile still plastered onto my face. “Conveyance, since you were _so_ vocal on her need for – how did you phrase it? ‘Real experience’? – she’s you’re responsibility, okay?”

Dottie snorted and flung her arm over my shoulders, pulling me in close to her warmly. “Of course, Gretch. Won’t let her out of my sight.”

Gretchen rolled her eyes and let out an audible sigh before scribbling something down on her clipboard. I grinned at Dottie thankfully and she shot me back a triumphant wink, though she masked it in an air of ‘ _that-was-a-breeze_ ’ despite everyone in the room knowing it was anything _but_.

Gretchen capped her pen and tucked it behind her ear, thumbing over her paperwork and frantically reading. “Alright, Optic? Can you take her to costume? Susan’s had her measurements for a while, she should’ve thrown something together.

Nora nodded and got to her feet before smiling at me. “Shall we go?”

***

My breath hitched as Susan slipped a tape measure around my front. She noted down the measurement in her notebook and shot me a tight-lipped smile before draping the tape measure over her neck and searching through a box of files and pulling out mine. She quickly compared her notes and, once satisfied, tucked my file back into the box.

“Well, looks like you haven’t changed Shelby, that’s good.” She smiled over her shoulder at me. “You like blue, right? I was trying to make it fit with the whole electric thing.”

“Uh, yeah, blue’s good,” I nodded.

“Good – give me a minute.”

Susan disappeared through to a backroom and I let out a sigh, running my fingers through my hair as I sat on the wooden tailor box I’d been stood on oh-so upright.

“You nervous?” Nora asked as a question even though I knew she already had an answer.

I reluctantly nodded. I didn’t want to admit it, but there was no point in lying to the other girl.

“Don’t worry, we all get nervous. Just stick with Dot, you’ll be fine.”

“I guess I’m just a little worried ‘bout usin’ my powers in public – feels weird being so open about it in here anyway.”

Nora smiled reassuringly and closed her eyes, disappearing from in front of me. The blatant use of her abilities made me smile. Nora Reid wasn’t the most comfortable around others, and her having the power to go invisible any time she wanted seemed to fit her perfectly. She suddenly reappeared in front of me, sat on the floor with her legs crossed and chin in her hands. We sat smiling at each other comfortably for a moment until Susan emerged with a black bundle in her arms and a smug grin plastered on her face.

“Not to brag, but I think this is one of my best,” she beamed.

She unfolded the shiny material and I saw flecks of blue shimmer in the light as she ran the costume through her hands. She got me to turn around and take off my shirt, jeans and shoes before she fitted the costume to my torso and smoothed it out flush; my body shivered at her touch at first, but I quickly settled into it. She let me get into the tight trousers by myself which I was thankful for, but just before I’d fully shimmied in, Susan couldn’t help herself but to begin finishing off the job and tightening it correctly around the upper-half.

She stood back and folded her arms, admiring her work. I felt my cheeks go red as she ran her hands down my arms and then my body, trying to adjust. “Something’s _missing,_ ” she hummed in annoyance.

She turned away and fumbled in drawers and cupboards, pulling out various belts and accessories to fit the costume. I stood eyeing Nora for help who did little but manage to hold back her growing smirk as Susan put things on me only to take them right back off and throw them all over the floor impatiently. Eventually she managed to settle on a shiny blue utility belt and an arm rig to holster a flashlight and a back-up coms device if my ear piece failed, which she wrapped tightly around my right bicep.

“Obviously you’ll get you’re cape, but we usually put them on just before we head out or they get all tied up and shit,” she said dismissively as she noted something down on a post-it and stuck it to her laptop.

“ _A cape_?” I echoed, an intense level of disbelief rising in my chest.

Everything was suddenly feeling _incredibly_ real _very_ fast, and I wasn’t sure – for one of the first times in my life, really – if I could _do_ this. I pushed down a thick swallow and stepped down from the tailor box, swaying with the uneasiness as the true influence of this new costume weighed down on me. Nora came to me, then, quickly throwing out an arm to help me. She nodded at Susan once in thanks as she quickly plunged the two of us into a state of invisibility which I only realised when Susan bumped into Nora and grumbled a ‘ _sorry_ ’ before itching the back of her head and disappearing to the back room again.

“Are you okay, Shelby?” Nora asked quickly as she casually started walking the two of us out of the costume room.

I swallowed again but nodded my head as I stood up straighter, breathing out and relaxing my shoulders. Nora fished out some paracetamol from her back pocket and handed it to me. I popped out two pills and dry-swallowed them quickly.

“Thanks,” I smiled, still a bit uneasy.

She smiled back at me and rubbed my shoulder sympathetically as we stopped at cabinet just outside of the costume room. She carefully released me from her comforting hold, watching me carefully to make sure I didn’t topple over.

When she was satisfied I wasn’t going to collapse without her support, she pulled out one of the draws from the cabinet and fished out a beautiful blue mask that matched my gloves.

“Ready to become an Unsinkable, Shelby Goodkind?”

I took the mask in my own hands and stared down into the empty eyes. “Oh, I am _so_ ready.”


	4. The One Where They Have Their First Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni’s about to head into her first field mission and is trying desperately not to let her nerves get the better of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild violence towards the end

-TONI-

Fatin had to rush to get me and Leah ready – and to her credit, she got it done, even if she did tighten everything a bit roughly. It was for our own good, apparently, but I didn’t really believe that. I eyed Leah as we gently rocked from the motion of our _completely_ unsuspicious white van (seriously, who thought that was a good plan?). She was typing away calmly on a laptop, and when she caught me staring at her she shut the computer and set it aside.

“Still nervous?” she asked.

I didn’t _want_ to nod my head, but I felt it giving a bobbing back and forth anyway. I sat on my hands to stop me from picking at my nails. “First real mission. Feel like I should celebrate or something.” I tried to laugh at my non-existent joke, but my nerves had ridden so close to the surface I couldn’t feel anything else.

“Hey,” Leah started. “Celebrate after, okay? I’ll buy you a drink.”

Fatin let out an offended snort. “What about me?” she pouted.

“I literally bought you a bottle of prosecco after your first mission, Fatin!” protested Leah. “You’re not even a field agent, you just get shipped out to securely fit us before _we_ go out!”

“Maybe take me to dinner next time,” Fatin offered nonchalantly, and at that, Leah’s cheeks blazed red as she quickly brought the laptop back to her lap.

I hid my grin under a fake cough and gazed out of the back window. The night had darkened further, lampposts and stars doing little to illuminate the sky. I let out a sigh and zipped my undershirt up to my chin, winning me a measured glare from Fatin who was clearly a little bit pissed about Leah’s comments.

I heard the familiar voice of Martha Blackburn crackle in my ear, then. “ _Hey ladies! How are we all doing today?”_ she asked enthusiastically.

I couldn’t help but smile at the girl. Marty was the only person who I knew would follow me to the ends of the earth no matter what stupid shit I pulled. We’d known each other since we kids, and when I declared I’d be going to college in Texas, she _literally_ leapt at the chance to come with me. It was her that got me this job in the first place, and I couldn’t thank her enough for it.

“All good here Marty, what’s it looking like up front?” I asked, pressing down on my earpiece.

“ _Oh just perfect! The sky's incredible tonight, isn’t it?_ ”

“How far away are we Martha?” Fatin asked.

“ _We’re just pulling up now – get ‘em booted and suited Fatin!_ ”

Fatin rolled her eyes at Marty’s optimism and I shot her a warning glare. She knew better than to challenge me when it came to Marty. She stood from her seat, clutching at the ceiling rail for balance as she made her way over to me, plonking herself down on the seat to my right. She silently checked over my gear to make sure everything was fitted and secured properly before clipping a walkie into a loop on my chest and handing me a backpack from under the seat. I quickly slipped it over my shoulders and faced her as she tightened straps around my shoulders and waist. I pulled down the black balaclava I'd had rolled up and slipped on the helmet I'd rested on the seat to my left and went to secure the chin-strap when Fatin raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“Seriously?” I sighed.

“Seriously.” She repeated and I dropped my hands, allowing her to fix it properly for me.

She pinched my cheek with a smirk before dropping over to Leah and doing the same for her as she’d done to me, only with more conversation. 

The van slowly came to a halt and I pushed down the lump in my throat and rose, ducking my neck against the top of the van. Leah rose to join me as Fatin pushed open the door and sat back down in a seat.

“Leah’ll show you how to use the zipline – you’ve done it in training anyway, so I wouldn’t stress,” she levelled with me quickly, seemingly sensing the nerves that were pulsing around my body.

I gave her a brave smile despite myself and it oddly calmed me slightly. _I’ve got this_. Me and Leah dropped out the back of the van and met with Martha who had been riding shotgun.

“Good luck girls, not that you need it!” the girl beamed. “Oh Toni, I’m _so_ proud of you.”

She quickly stepped forward, wrapping me up in one of her famous bear-hugs. I hugged her back, the other girl warming me in the best way possible.

“Thanks, Marty,” I mumbled into her hair as we withdraw.

“Ready to rock Shalifoe?”

“Oh _hell_ yes!”

***

The two of us had made it to the roof up a fire escape and were crouching, waiting for Sinkables to make an appearance. As if on cue, an alarm sounded from within the bank, and me and Leah listened, watched.

Enter Sinkables.

The costumes were _ridiculous_. All shiny, and tight-fitting, and _exactly_ what you’d expect from a group of superheroes. _Fuck_. I can’t think of them like that. They’re _not_ heroes. Wherever they go, destruction follows.

It was ironic, I thought in that moment, how less than four years ago it was me destroying everything around. A walking forest fire. I felt Leah tap me on the shoulder and I met her eyes, focusing on the silent instructions she was giving me as we secured our ziplines to two thick metal rigs drilled into the top of the bank.

“ _Alright agents,”_ Director Young’s voice warmed my ear. “ _Sinkables have apprehended their target, they’re on the way out.”_

Me and Leah braced ourselves, ready to jump from the ledge of the building when Marty’s voice came into our earpieces.

“ _Wait_.”

It was a simple instruction but the uncertainty of it made me itchy all over suddenly. I adjusted my hands on my zipline cord to try and make myself more comfortable, but it did little to ease the wave of nausea building in my stomachs.

“ _Shit_!”

A curse from the girl I’d known to only say such words after a breakup concerned me further. I went to press the coms device in my ear when she came through again.

“ _Guys, there’s another one.”_

My heart dropped to my stomach as I searched for Leah’s eyes in the darkness. I was glad when she whispered the question that was on my mind to their friend in the van surveying the area.

“Marty, what do you _mean_ there’s another one?”

“ _I mean Sinkables have a new member,_ ” she clarified. “ _No, you’re not doing this, I’m pull-”_

 _“No, proceed with the mission_.” Director Young’s voice was so demanding I was shocked when I heard Marty try and protest.

“ _But Sir-_ ”

“ _Proceed_ ,” Director Young interrupted yet again.

Me and Leah looked at each other and nodded once before leaning into our cords, ready to zip down in a matter of seconds.

“Proceeding, Sir,” Leah said quickly as she tapped her coms device. “On three Shalifoe,” she levelled seriously. “One, two…” she glanced below us to make sure we’d catch Sinkables off guard properly. “ _Three_!”

And with that we shot down from the roof, zipping down so fast I could barely tell where I was going.

It was all fast. _So fast_. One second we were in the air, next we were on the ground with one Sinkable already on the floor I later realised was Conveyance. Me and Leah were fighting and bouncing around just like Leah had briefed me on earlier in the day, and I was shocked with how efficient it was. We’d managed to catch another one off guard – Freestyle. It was good we got her down, her speed could’ve really fucked us up. Somewhere along the line I’d managed to flick down the infrared goggles we had in our helmets so we could identify Optic’s location. I spotted her trying to sneak around to Leah who was fighting off the new girl and ran at her, knocking the invisible body to the ground. I clenched my fist and punched Optic straight in the face once, twice, _thrice_ , and she was out.

I looked up, face sweaty and knuckles stinging. I quickly got a hold of my breath and jumped up with the help of the zipline cord and pulled the new girl off of Leah, dragging the two of us to the floor with a heavy _thud_. I quickly got an elbow straight under my chin and the girl had somehow managed to dislodge my helmet.

“Fuck!” I yelled out as my lip began to throb and the taste of blood seeped into my mouth.

The other girl climbed to her feet, something flickering behind her mask. But before she could unleash whatever the fuck she was going to, Leah had her on the floor from behind and pulled out a syringe, plunging it into the girl’s neck and pressing down, sending a muscle relaxant right into the girl’s veins.

Her whole body went limp in Leah’s arms and she began dragging her away.

“Come on!” she hissed at me.

“What are you _doing_?”

“Shalifoe, fucking move!”

I bit my tongue before I made a bad choice in words and jumped in to help my colleague, grabbing the girls legs. We got back to the van as quickly as we could and threw the girl into the back as we jumped in after her.

“What the _fuck!_ ” Fatin shouted as the girl’s arm landed in her lap. “Tell me she’s not dead…”

“Very much alive, Fatin,” I said breathlessly as I slammed the door shut and slammed on the wall separating us from the front of the van with a balled fist. “Go!” I shouted, finger pushed into my earpiece.


	5. The One Where Panic Helped The Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
> Shelby went out on her first mission - a routine bank robbery - it wasn’t meant to be difficult, was -if anything- simple. But things weren’t as simple as promised to her
> 
> This chapter:  
> Shelby’s in a bit of a situation... will she be able to escape her captors? Will she recognise any of them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for all the kudos and comments! 
> 
> Toni’s POV will be posted later today <3
> 
> Also we can just pretend Shelby’s mask just has the Clark Kent glasses effect 😅

-SHELBY-

My eyes flickered open and I winced at the bright white light glaring into my retinas. The back of my head was throbbing and it took all of two seconds to realise the situation I was in was a bad one.

“Mother _fucker_!” I groaned out under my breath as I tugged against my bound wrists and ankles.

“Now now, that language isn’t very nice, is it?” a clearly technically-altered voice metallically clanged out.

I held my left eye shut as I adjusted to the light, and three fuzzy figures slowly came into focus. With both eyes now open I took in a deep breath and let it out again, trying my best to take in _everything_ before I panicked; bound legs and arms, three opponents, bright white lights. I looked around for anything that could help me but it was obvious I was in an empty room.

“No point, Rookie. You’re alone in here,” came another, slightly deeper voice.

I cleared my throat and assessed myself next; for some reason they’d left my mask on, but my coms devices were gone and I didn’t have any weapons on me. Realistically, my best bet was to reach for my powers, focus on those glaring white lights and blow them, confuse my captors long enough for me to make an escape.

But there were _so_ many lights.

So many, in fact, that one slip up on my part could blow up the whole building, and I was with it enough to realise that would mean _I’d_ blow up, too.

“Got anything to say for yourself?” the first figure asked.

“Look, if y’all want somethin’ out of me, you’re gonna need to be more specific,” I sighed, hoping the bravado I’d inserted into my voice sounded authentic.

The second girl stepped forward, then, crouching down in front of me to meet my level. I saw a grin spread across their exposed mouth. All of them had their eyes covered with reflective goggles and the bottom half of their faces were covered in muddy camo face paint, all with a black ‘ _W’_ marked on their right cheeks. 

“So,” the robotic voice came again – now the figure was closer, I could see a small microphone hidden against the face paint and a wire carefully nestled down their neck and beneath their shirt. “Got a cute nickname, new girl?”

The haziness of how I’d got here started to become more clear; we’d made it to the bank in time, intercepted the robbery. When we started heading out, I’d heard Nora mumble something about the air not feeling right and next thing I knew, Dottie was on the floor to my right and I’d been kicked hard in my chest. _Something_ was on top of us and all I could think to do was fight. I kicked, and punched, and _tried_. But I couldn’t really see the assailants. When I’d managed to get a hold of one, I’d just got the upper hand when I felt a hard and heavy force fly into me and knock me to the ground. I’d struggled up, I knew that. I’d reached for my powers…

After that was still foggy.

“A voice, even?” came the voice again.

“I’m not talkin’ to you!” I hissed, grinding my jaw.

The grin was back again as the figure turned back to the others. “You hear this girls? She’s a feisty one hey?”

I pulled again at my binds, harder this time. They still didn’t budge.

“Cute, but unless you got superstrength you’re not getting out of that,” mocked the girl in front of me.

It was then it hit me. These people had _no_ idea what I could do.

Realising that was the only advantage point I had, I know I had to abuse it. “Bet it’s scary, right? Not knowin’? Being completely unsure about just _how_ powerful I am?” I teased. The girl’s poker face didn’t crack an inch. “For all you know, I could snap my fingers and kill every one of y’all.”

“So why haven’t you?” questioned the third girl, voicing her opinions for the first time.

“I’m no killer,” I called to her before returning my gaze to the girl still crouched in front of me. “ _We_ have morals.”

The girl scoffed at that. “And we don’t? Why do you think you still have that stupid mask on your face?”

That caught me off guard more than it should’ve. I collected myself quickly, fixing my eyes straight ahead rather than on any of the girls specifically. “Y’all gotta want somethin’, right? Wanna tell me what that is?”

“We just want to ask you a couple questions, Sinkable,” came the first girl’s voice.

My poise cracked slightly at the perversion of my team’s name.

 _My_ team.

The thought had been involuntary, but it wasn’t false. I was part of a team, now, and teams don’t just drop the newbie as soon as she makes a mistake.

“Fine,” I played along. “But I’ll only answer to her,” I clarified, eyes glancing back to the girl crouching just slightly to my right. “ _Alone_.”

Another grin spread across the girl’s lips and _Lord_ that was fast becoming a pet peeve.

She turned her head over her shoulder. “You heard the princess ladies!” she called to the others before settling her hidden eyes back on mine. “I got this one…”

“Have fun!” called the first girl as she flung her arm over the third and walked the two of them out.

I swallowed as a heavy metal door slammed shut with a thick _thunk_.

“Any reason you wanted me all alone, new girl?”

I didn’t look at the girl again. My plan was a week one, but the best I had; with the other two girls gone, it was One Vs. One, and this girl had the _cockiest_ of attitudes it couldn’t possibly be founded in truth.

I let my eyes flutter shut and dropped my head after pretending to struggle to keep it up. Then I felt a finger curling under my chin, tilting my head back up so I had to face the girl.

“Come on, princess,” she cooed teasingly. “We haven’t even started yet.”

I seized the one opportunity I’d given myself and lurched forward, connecting my lips with hers.

It felt like cheating – just a little bit – but I needed to get out of here _now_ , and if there was one thing I took from high-school biology, it was that electricity is _everywhere_ , even in the human body.

I felt it instantly, coursing through the girl’s entire body. I slipped my tongue past her lips and after that, I knew I had her. I reached for my powers, and with one quick _pulse_ I disrupted the impulses in her cells and her knees buckled and folded like a deck chair on the floor.

With the charge still dancing on my lips I focused it into my own body, the boost from the girl giving me the strength I needed to bust through the binds at my wrist.

I quickly untied my bound ankles and scanned the girl’s temporarily debilitated body, snatching at a walkie talkie clipped to her chest. I pushed my powers again, riding off the adrenalin high of the whole thing, and sent out a location signal I _knew_ Nora would be searching for like a hawk. Within seconds, Dottie was by my side, completely breathless.

“ _Fuck_ dude,” she gasped. “Thank god you ain’t just a pretty face.”

“D-” I stopped myself, realising the girl writhing on the floor could probably still hear me. “ _Conveyance_ ,” I corrected. “Get us out of here?”

“Oh, you frickin’ bet,” she agreed, grabbing my hand and teleporting us right back to the boardroom as if I’d never been abducted in the first place.

It was Gretchen’s eyes that met mine first, colder than I’d ever seen them (which was really saying something).

“Shelby,” she said, her tone not giving anything away. “The signal was a good move.”

Well, that wasn’t good.

Whenever Gretchen started with a positive, it almost _always_ meant what was to follow would rip any sense of pride out of you and trample on it, throw it in a trash can, light it on fire, and throw the whole thing deep into the ocean.

But she didn’t continue.

In fact, she didn’t even stay in the room, just poured herself a glass of water and left, her clicking heels sounding off far into the hallway. I turned to Dottie for some answers but she simply shrugged and threw herself into a seat near Rachel, who had an icepack pressed into her forehead.

“Lord are you alright Rachel?” I asked quickly.

“I’m fine,” she let out in a growl.

“She’s not,” Nora cut in, clarifying the obvious. “Well, physically she’s okay, but her ego’s pretty bruised.”

The cold glare Rachel gave her twin would’ve scared anyone into silence, but Nora remained pretty unaffected, returning to the paperwork she was filling out.

“Uh, Dottie? You couldn’t nip me back to my dorm could you?” I asked as sweetly as I could. “I don’t want my roommate coming back to an empty room, she might get suspicious.”

Dottie nodded mid-sip and swallowed down her water. “Course – get changed first though, okay?”

I shot her a thankful smile before turning on my heels and heading to costume.

***

I was lucky, in some regards, that the only visible injuries were some bruises on my ribs. I was thankful I could hide that under my clothes, knowing all too well that if Toni saw even a papercut she’d question it, doing anything she could to try and fix it. I was lucky to have her, I knew that. I could’ve got stuck with any shitty roommate, but Toni? I really couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

I hugged Dottie in thanks for teleporting me home and waved her off as she disappeared again, a faint distortion in the air lingering for the briefest of moments before settling back as if Dot was never there to start with. I collapsed face first onto my bed chuckling slightly into my pillow at the absurdity of the whole thing.

If you’d told me six weeks ago I was gonna be a frickin’ superhero I would’ve told you to be on your way with a snort. And yet here I was, stopping bank robberies, getting kidnapped and escaping all in one night.

It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep once I’d tucked myself under the covers, and that night I dreamed of that girl, the one I’d knocked out with a kiss… Something about her felt so familiar and yet completely foreign to me.

I didn’t dwell on it.


	6. The One With A Non-Alcoholic Hangover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni managed to make it back to her dorm, but not without Director Young's scorning following her through the guise of Fatin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this! 
> 
> This chapters kinda just Shoni fluff instead of actual heavy plot, but it needed to be done
> 
> Updates soon <3

-TONI-

My head _throbbed_. I don’t know what the fuck that girl could do, but that stupid fucking kiss wiped me out.

It was clearly her ‘power’ or whatever, I knew that, but _God_ , I was so embarrassed. I fumbled around in my pockets weakly, groaning to myself when I realised I’d definitely left my key on my desk next to Leah’s laptop.

“Shelby…” I whined, resting my forehead on the heavy wood door. “I think I lost my key. Are you up?”

I heard the lock click on the other side of my dorm room door as it swung open, my tall blonde roommate wearing a pink crop top and a smile as she handed me a glass of water with an effervescent vitamin C tablet fizzing at the bottom.

“Well good mornin’ to you!” she beamed as I basically downed the entire glass of now orange-flavoured water. “Late one?”

“Yeah,” I grumbled. “You made the right move not coming, it was fucking brutal.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “D’ya cut your lip on somethin’?”

My tongue instinctively shot out and met the split in my lip from last night. _Fuck_. “Oh, I uh – yeah. Cut it on a chipped glass.” I lied.

“Well, I suggest you grab forty winks – you have practice in an hour and thirty,” Shelby gabbled along, seemingly dropping the issue.

My eyes widened at my roommate. “Are you kidding?”

Shelby bit her lip to hold back a smirk. “Get some sleep Toni, seriously.”

I collapsed backwards onto my bed, spreading myself out over the limited space. I watched Shelby tie her hair into a tight ponytail, adjusting it in the mirror before turning to the door. I quickly sat up on my elbows. “Where are you going?”

“Mornin’ run,” she called over her shoulder. “See you after practice?”

I nodded slowly, not trusting my head enough to handle a full nod. “Thanks for the water.”

She smiled at me warmly. “Course,” she mumbled before shooting out the door.

I led back onto my bed, letting my head sink into the soft pillows I’d stolen from Shelby’s bed (she noticed, but didn’t seem to miss them). I slept _so_ well for a good hour until I was roused from my sleep by an alarm I didn’t remember setting. I slapped at my phone on the bedside table, but when it didn’t shut off I cursed under my breath and picked my phone up, staring at the screen so I could hit the off button correctly when I realised it wasn’t _my_ phone going off. I narrowed my eyes across the room at the buzzing phone that led on _Shelby’s_ bedside table.

 _This fucking girl_.

I shot out of bed and crossed the room, taking the hot-pink cased phone in my hands as I read the alarm name she’d set:

_You’re welcome ;)_

_Have fun at practice Xx_

I smiled down at the phone before shutting off the alarm and replacing it on the bedside table and stretched my arms out, letting out a yawn. I quickly jumped into the shower, washing my body under the hot stream. I didn’t take to long, but I needed to hurry up if I was going to make it to practice in time. I brushed my teeth while pulling on a pair of shorts and ran into the bathroom to spit out the minty foam and replace my toothbrush in the holder. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, not having time for my usual plaits, and tugged on my jersey while I was half way out the door. I took a sharp turn to the right and came crashing into another person.

I pulled myself off the floor, ready to snap at the other person, but I was already late so I pushed past them, heading off down the corridor.

“Hi to you too bitch!” came the familiar voice of Fatin.

“I don’t have time Fatin, I’ve got practice,” I called over my shoulder. “I’m sure it can wait.”

“Not if Young has anything to say about it – he wants you at work,” she persisted, joining me by my side. “After that thing with the newbie, he wants to make sure you’re not still hurt.”

“He already ran my vitals!” I complained, marching down the stairs. “I’m fine, look at me!”

Fatin stepped in front of me, then, arms folded and eyebrows raised, eyes glaring at me. I stopped, let out a sigh and met her eyes.

“No sly comment about my ass looking fine?” I joked half-serious. Fatin didn’t waver. “Oh, _what_?”

“You fucked up Toni,” she said plainly. “He’s pissed.”

And with that, she was gone, sweeping out of the door just as quickly as she’d appeared. I let out a huff and clenched my fists, feeling my nails digging in ever-so-slightly until I moved again, heading to practice just as I’d planned.

***

Fatin arriving at my dorm had definitely affected my game; I’d missed two line-ups in row and it was starting to get under my skin. Coach blew her whistle after I’d got a tad too facey with a teammate.

“Shalifoe, take five,” she ordered.

“Coach-”

“ _Toni_ ,” she interrupted and I didn’t have it in me to fight with her.

I stalked over to the cooler and fished out a water bottle, downing half of it before sitting on the bench and squeezing my eyes shut as the headache from this morning started to make it’s return. I let out a sigh, trying my best to calm down when I spotted the familiar blonde hair of my roommate bopping up and down just outside of the wire mesh of the basketball court.

I watched, happily taking Shelby’s running technique in when I was snapped out of it with her calling my name softly.

“Toni? You still with us?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I mumbled, physically shaking my head before walking over to her coolly. “Good run?”

A smirk spread over her lips. “Better now I’m here,” she grinned, lacing her fingers against the mesh.

I couldn’t help but let my gaze cast down over her body as I took her in at this closer distance: her chest rose and fell sharply as she regained her breath, fresh sweat glimmering in the Texas heat. I played with the hem of my jersey before meeting her eyes again.

“Why _are_ you here? Haven’t you got class?”

She shook her head, grin remaining plastered on her face as I _swear_ her eyes shot down to my lips for the briefest of moments-

“What’s wrong, Toni? Can’t I come and see you get your sweat on?”

I quirked an eyebrow, a grin creeping onto my face now. All Shelby’s bravado quickly dropped as she realised what _exactly_ she’d just said.

“I- I just meant-”

“If you come round to the front I can let you in, you can sit on the bleachers,” I interjected, and her eyes told me she was thankful for the save.

After I let Shelby sit and watch me, my game improved dramatically; I scored three times the amount I had before coach sent me off, and my team seemed happy with the performance.

“You should bring her more often,” one of them told me as we headed off, nodding towards Shelby. “She’s like your lucky charm or some shit.”

I smiled over at Shelby who smiled right back and gave me a double thumbs up. I wasn’t entirely convinced she actually knew the rules of basketball, and I’m sure even if I _had_ played badly she’d still tell me ‘ _I did just swell!’_

We walked together back to our dorm and chatted meaninglessly until Shelby had to get to a class. It was easy with her, _so_ easy. I was lucky to have her around, really. I led back on my bed, staring at the ceiling as I let my thoughts wander; what if that girl had killed me last night and I never came home? Would Shelby go looking for me? Would she even care?

I dismissed the thoughts as quickly as they came into my mind, not wanting to dwell on what deep shit I was in with Young. As if by some freaky all-knowing-universe shit, my phone buzzed with a text from Fatin.

**_Fatin:_ ** _Dude, Young is going off – I think he’s gonna kill that tech intern_

**_You:_ ** _What does he even want me to say?_

**_Fatin:_ ** _Idfk asshat, maybe come ask?_

**_You:_ ** _Whatever – omw_

I let out a sigh and kicked myself off of my bed, pulling my arms through the sleeves of my jacket and heading back down the stairs.


	7. The One With Team Building Activities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:   
> Shelby got kidnapped by The Watchdogs but managed to make her escape with the help of Dot (Conveyance)
> 
> This Chapter:   
> The Unsinkables undergo some team building on the orders of Gretchen so they can work as a unit rather than individuals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> This was a little bit trickier to write (who knew I’d ever need to google the anatomy of a baseball cap?) but hopefully you all enjoy anyway!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos!
> 
> Toni’s POV will be up later today <3

-SHELBY-

“When you say ‘team building’, do you mean icebreakers? Because I _love_ a good icebreaker!”

I caught Rachel rolling her eyes at me from under a sponsored PADI cap she almost always had securely attached to her head.

“ _No_ , Shelby, that’s not what I mean,” Gretchen let out in a sigh. “Not in the slightest.”

My smile faulted for just a moment. If I was honest, I was too excited for this to let Gretchen’s shit get to me now.

Dot had trained me well. She knew what she was doing and I was thankful she didn’t laugh at me every time I fell on my ass or slipped up. But the idea of coming together as an actual _team_? It was like a dream come true.

I’ll never forget how scared of myself I was when I first discovered what I could do; blowing lightbulbs, breaking phones, burning out the radio in my car. Telephone lines were the worst. I could walk under them and next thing I knew sparks would be falling around me and everyone’s signal would fail. I tried to push it down, supress it. It was harder around some people than it was others to do that, though.

“I don’t know why we didn’t do this before,” came Nora’s voice. “It seems a bit short-sighted of us to not think we’d need to know how to work together as a team before trying to fight as one.”

“Exactly, Optic,” Gretchen agreed. “You’ll work in pairs to start with, and after that it’s a free-for-all.”

“I’ll take Shelby,” Dot interjected quickly. “I trained her, I know what makes her tick.”

“Bold move Campbell,” grinned Rachel. “We’ve literally spent our _whole_ lives together, you two don’t stand a chance.”

“Oh come now Rachel,” I teased. “No one likes a trash-talker.”

“Don’t taunt me blondie, I’ll run rings around you.”

I levelled my eyes on the other girl and quickly flicked a crumpled up receipt at her. She rocketed out of her seat and crossed the room to stand over my chair in the literal blink of an eye and I folded my arms, looking up at her as nonchalantly as I could with the impressive use of her powers.

“Cute,” I smirked, standing to meet the girl. “We goin’ or not?”

***

Dot had teleported all four of us to an out-of-use football pitch. It was deep into the night, the navy blue of the midnight sky had blackened, only a the twinkling of a handful of stars and intermittent aeroplanes lighting it up. Rachel looked just about ready to tear my head off and Nora didn’t seem very interested in the situation, instead opting to stare at the seats lining the football pitch.

“We doing this shit or not?” Rachel asked impatiently.

“Woah now, we want this to be fair, right?” Dot interjected.

Rachel tilted her head and folded her arms tightly across her chest, glaring at Dottie, who in turn sighed and disappeared. A few moments later, the giant spotlights on top of the scoreboards and around the seating lit up, and Dottie reappeared with the cockiest grin I’d ever seen– 

_Maybe second cockiest…_

“Your big plan to blind us or some shit? Seems desperate, even for you,” Rachel challenged.

“You’re just scared,” Dottie brushed off. “We all know Shelby could fuck any one of us up if she had it in her to actually do damage.”

I smiled at that, feeling the pride flush into my cheeks. “I don’t actually have to hurt y’all, right?” I asked quickly after considering Dottie’s statement.

“Not badly,” Nora offered. “But Rachel doesn’t tend to stop until she’s physically unable to keep going.” I raised my eyebrows. “Maybe leave that to Dot.”

We decided to make it more entertaining we’d turn it into a game of capture the flag. Rachel nominated her cap for the flag, and from there the rules were simple; firstly, the hat was to be left in the centre of the field, secondly, both teams would start from opposite goals, and finally, the first team to get the hat to the opposing team’s goal won. Simple.

 _It wasn’t simple_.

As soon as I flickered the lights off and on again (what we’d decided would be our make-do starter pistol), Dottie immediately teleported to the centre, retrieved the hat, and teleported right to Rachel and Nora’s goal.

“That’s cheating!” shouted Rachel.

“We’re using our powers, isn’t that the point?” Dot argued.

“Not like _that_!” protested Rachel. “You have to give us a chance!”

“Oh don’t be such a sore loser Reid-”

“Ladies!” I interrupted before things got too ugly. “Why don’t we just do a best of three?”

The suggestion seemed to diffuse the fight as we all returned to our starting positions. I flickered the lights on and off, and just as Dottie and I began running, I felt a gush of wind shoot past my right ear.

“Oh come _on_ Rachel!” Dot sighed out loudly, waving her arms in the air at the girl doing a victory dance in our goal.

She was by our side in a moment with a grin on her face and her hat on her head. “Problem, Campbell?”

“Right, new rule,” Dot started. “No using our powers until we actually _touch_ the hat, deal?”

“Deal,” agreed Nora quickly.

“Fine, but me and you cant just zip to the other goal, either. We have to run it there outright,” Rachel added. “Fair’s fair.”

Dot took a moment before agreeing and turning to me. “Shelby?”

I nodded my head, adjusting my ponytail slightly before walking back to my goal with Dottie. I readied myself, preparing to take off. I let my eyes closed as my powers found the electric lights. I flickered them off before illuminating the pitch again and I was off, sprinting towards the centre as fast as I could.

I got close, but unsurprisingly Rachel was already there, her natural athleticism carrying her across the field with ease. I pushed forward, though, lunging at her and catching her off guard enough to push her over and grab the hat. I locked my fingers tightly around the adjustable closure of the cap and made off towards the other goal when I felt the cap being tugged out of my grip.

“What the-” I muttered as I looked back only to see a quick set of footprints darting in the opposite direction. _Sneaky little_ -

I pushed off back towards my own goal, determined not to let my slip up lead to our loss when Dottie appeared in front of the footsteps, halting them. She grabbed at the air, managing to find Nora and connecting a fist with some part of her body. The action was enough to make the girl re-appear, and the two began squabbling on the floor.

“Shelby!” Dot let out in a strangled cry.

I corrected myself from simply starring at the two and made a grab at the cap Nora had somehow managed to keep locked in her grasp when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned briefly to see Rachel with a smirk plastered on her face. I widened my eyes, all to aware of what was about to happen.

Next thing I knew, I was up on the highest set of seats with a very uneasy feeling in my stomach from the quick displacement of my previous position in the field. I gripped onto the back of one of the seats to level myself and squinted at the battle still going on in the middle of the field. I started making my way down the stairs as quickly as I could without falling flat on my face when I noticed Rachel pegging it towards mine and Dottie’s goal.

“No!” I cried out, picking up my pace.

I knew there was no way I would make it down there in time to make a difference, so I let my brain think at double speed as my powers burned under my skin, setting the hairs on my forearm upright.

I suddenly stopped in my tracks and clenched my fists tight, nails digging into my palms. My eyes slammed shut but from beneath my eyelids I could see the spotlights flickering on and off – not that I needed to see it, though – I _felt_ it.

The burning.

The pressure.

_The pain._

It darted around my entire body, and I knew I couldn’t hold it. It was too much. I threw out my arms, screaming as the sensation ripped through my body on its departure.

I heard an echoing _crack_ through the air, surrounding me entirely as a flash of pure white light illuminated the whole sky. There was a faint _‘Holy shit!_ ’ in the background, and after that, my legs gave out and I crashed to the floor, vision going black.


	8. The One With Anger Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni's frustration gets the better of her as her anger rises to the surface once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Gets a bit violent

-TONI-

“My vitals are clear!” I hissed, underlining my test results with my index finger. “ _See?_ ”

Director Young’s eyes didn’t move. Nor did his mouth. Or his hands- or anything, really. He just sat across from me, staring, as if he was waiting for me to say something. “ _What?”_

“Do you remember when I told you to build yourself a mental trigger? That thing that keeps you going when you don’t think you can push any further?”

I sat back in my chair, folding my arm and averting my gaze and hyper-focusing on the wall clock. Director Young noticed, though. He rose out of his chair, the metal legs scraping across the floor. His outstretched arm came into my view as the clock was plucked from the wall and placed face down on a filing cabinet.

“Toni,” he began, his voice giving nothing away. “All I want to do is see you succeed.”

I let out a scoff. “Sure,” I laughed. “Like every other fucker whose not in my life anymore, right?”

I kicked out of my chair and headed to the door only to find it was locked. “Fuck’s sake!”

“Shalifoe calm down!” barked Director Young, and admittedly his voice shook me.

Not that I’d let _him_ know that.

“Rilke can you come in please?” he called into an earpiece.

The door clicked open with a key and Leah walked in, standing straight with her hands clasped behind her back. “Director.”

“Take Shalifoe to the training room,” he ordered. “She needs to blow off _steam_.”

I don’t bother returning his gaze, instead blasting out of the door, knocking into Leah in my wake.

***

“So you wanna like, talk about it?”

I glared at Leah as I wrapped my hands, stretching and clenching my fingers to adjust. “That wasn’t the order.”

“I know,” she agreed, nodding along with it. “But sometimes talking works. Thought I’d suggest it.”

“Not a talker,” I dismissed as I walked to a heavy-weighted sandbag that hung from the ceiling.

I could feel Leah’s eyes on me as I quickly punched at the bag hard and fast. I mentally tuned her out, focusing on landing my hits heavily into the bag until I could feel my knuckles sting. I focused in on the contact of my fist against the bag when I heard the faint calling of my name.

“Toni!”

“ _What?_ ” I shouted, whipping around.

“Do you want to go one on one? That bag can’t fight back, I can.”

“Piss off Rilke,” I shook off, returning to the sandbag.

Not missing a beat, I felt my legs give out from under me as I crashed to the floor.

“What the _fuck_!”

“You don’t fight me I fight you,” she said sternly despite the outstretched hand she was offering me.

I took it and pulled at her, dragging her down next to me. I immediately got on top of her and punched her once in the jaw a little harder than I probably should’ve. Leah didn’t let the pain get to her eyes, though, and quickly rolled the two of us over and managed to get to her feet somewhere amongst the squabbling.

I joined her and held up my fists, ready to go on the offence. I sent one quick jab out at Leah’s head, but she ducked under it and hit me once in the nose with her own balled fist as she came back up. I staggered back slightly, but collected myself and lunged forward, attempting to get Leah in a headlock to drag her down to the floor, but she grabbed a hold of my right arm and yanked it towards her, sending my face into her elbow.

I clenched my teeth as the metallic taste of blood seeped into my mouth, but I held Leah’s gaze and went at her again, managing to land a right hook and left uppercut. She barely wavered though, spitting out a mouthful of blood and sending a punch to my temple and roundhouse to my side, only to follow through and kick back at me with her left foot.

After that, I couldn’t stay on my feet. I let out a groan as my back hit the ground but pushed back on my elbows to try and get to my feet. I just about managed to get upright and hold up my fists, throwing out my arm in a failed attempt to hit Leah again, who simply slapped my arm away which almost sent me spinning to the floor again, saved only by Leah catching me.

“Come on,” she let out in a ragged breath, finally letting herself feel the pain of my attacks.

Both of us staggered back out of the training room, leaning on each other. She led me back to our desks, dropping me in my seat and disappearing again. I led my head gently on my desk, a faint ringing in my ears as I tried my best to focus on my breathing. A glass of water was set down beside my head with a gentle _clunk._

“Drink that. Take these,” she ordered.

I wished I had it in me to argue, but every inch of my body was crying out for those tablets to quell my pain. I pulled my head off the desk and took a large gulp of the water chased with two of whatever medication Leah had given me.

“Are you okay?”

“You completely fucked me up Leah,” I groaned. “My ego hurts but yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good, I’m getting Fatin.”

My eyes shot open as a lurched forward, spilling water down my front. “ _Why_?”

“She’s better with this stuff than I am, I just-”

“What the _fuck_ happened to you?” came Fatin’s voice.

She had shopping bags hanging off both arms, with an ice coffee in one hand and a pair of sunglasses in the other. She dumped her bags in her desk chair and returned, hand on her hip, as she slurped at her drink.

“Have fun,” Leah grinned, slapping me on the leg before shooting off without giving me the chance to keep her here.

“You look like shit,” Fatin clarified. “Leah went in hard, huh?”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” I grimaced, wincing at the pain throbbing in my head.

“Why you so off your game?” she asked, absently slurping again at her coffee.

I placed the glass back down on my desk and snatched at Fatin’s coffee, pressing it to my temple. I didn’t want to admit _why_ I was ‘off my game’, especially not to Fatin.

 _That fucking girl_. With her stupid blue mask and cape and boots and costume and her stupid remarks and stupid accent and _stupid_ kiss.

 _Stupid_.

“Look, _none_ of us could’ve known she’d do that,” Fatin chimed in, leaning down to sip at her drink through the straw. “You can’t let it get to you like _this_. You’ll never be allowed on the field again.”

“Thanks Fatin, super motivating.” I glared at her as I pushed the coffee back into her hand. “I just don’t get how I could be so _dumb_.”

“You’re not dumb, you’re cocky and she knew it.”

I picked up my phone and checked my face in the front camera. It wasn’t the _best_. My lip was split open more than it was this morning and a bruise was quickly forming under my left eye. My right eyebrow was also sporting a purple-black bruise and the skin had _just_ broken, the red of my blood shining against the stark white LED ceiling lights.

“Have fun explaining that away to your roomie,” Fatin chuckled.

My heart instantly sank as I quickly flicked my phone off of aeroplane mode and let the messages flood my lock screen.

**_Shelby:_ ** _Hey! I might be a little late to game night – Just picking up take out_

**_Shelby:_ ** _Wait do you want pizza or Chinese?_

**_Shelby:_ ** _I panicked and got both_

**_Shelby:_ ** _We’re still on right?_

**_Shelby:_ ** _Toni?_

**_Shelby:_ ** _It’s okay, we can reschedule_

**_Shelby:_ ** _Hope you’re alright Xx_

“ _Fuck_!” I shouted aloud, scrambling about to get my things and firing towards the exit, ignoring Fatin’s warnings to ‘ _watch your head!_ ’ and ‘ _take it easy_!’.

_Fuck fuck fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all your comments and kudos! They're super motivating, and I'm glad you're enjoying :)
> 
> I think I've got a plan as to where this things is going now, I just need to write it lol (also may have the bare bones of a sequel brewing, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it...) 
> 
> As always, I'm open to any constructive criticism and the new chapters should be here in a few days <3


	9. The One Where Good Intentions Have Bad Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
> The Unsinkables' training quickly got derailed when Shelby's powers manifested themselves in the from of an electrical strike that scarred the sky. Toni's anger got the best of her, and it cost her a black eye and bruised ego. 
> 
> This Chapter:  
> The news is out that the new Unsinkable in town means business, but Shelby's more worried about her beaten-up roommate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks to all of you reading along with my story!
> 
> I hope you enjoy these next few chapters, they were super fun to write! 
> 
> As always, any constructive criticism is welcome!

-SHELBY-

“Toni you can’t just show up looking like _that_ and shut me out!” I shouted, pointing at her face. “Did you get into a fight? Your knuckles are-”

Toni snatched her hand away from me when I tried to get a better look and I scoffed, folding my arms at the _attitude_ of this girl. “I am _tryin’_ to help you!”

“Shelby I’m fine, really-”

“So you keep saying,” I interrupted. “But that shiner on your face and that busted-”

“ _Shelby_ ,” Toni cut me off. “I’m fine, seriously. Don’t worry about it.”

“But I _am_ worried.” The words fell out of my mouth before my brain had even processed them. “I just… I meant- I mean that, _uh_. I meant I thought you were over all that stuff? The fightin’ and what-not.”

“I was,” Toni sighed. “I _am_. I just… Needed to blow off some _steam_.”

The words didn’t seem like they were her own, and when she turned to sit on her bed, I locked onto her wrist with my fingers, being sure to be gentle but firm. It took everything in me not to reach for the electricity running around her body like I had with that one girl who always seemed to linger in the back of my mind _. I still felt guilty…_

“Can I at least clean you up a little?”

She met my eyes with her own and nodded once. She sat down on the edge of the bed as I went to retrieve a damp flannel from our en suite, and as I returned, I sat beside her and gently dabbed at the split skin of her eyebrow, recoiling instantly at every wince.

“Sorry it just,” she muttered. “Stings. I mean, like, a little.”

“Sorry… uh, here.” I readjusted, tucking my left hand behind her head. “Just try and stay still for me, okay?”

She swallowed and closed her eyes, leaning into the cold cloth as I pressed it back against her head. I set it aside and looked at it the broken skin again. It looked fresher, but at least it was clean.

“There,” I smiled. “All done.”

I turned to return the flannel when the hand Toni had rested on my thigh tensed and clenched at the fabric of my shorts.

“Shelby,” she let out in a half-whisper.

“Y-yeah?” I stuttered.

“I, um,” she muttered, eyes dropping to my lips as she slowly – _Lord, so slowly_ – moved closer.

I felt my breath hitch as the distance between us grew smaller and smaller and _smaller_ and-

 _Buzz_.

“Shit, I-” Toni choked out, pulling away and fetching her phone off the desk.

I watched as her eyebrows knitted, clicking on her phone and turning it sideways. “What is it?” I asked as I leant forward to see the screen.

“Marty just sent me this video - apparently it’s all over the news,” she explained.

We let the video play out. It was grainy, and far too dark, but when _it_ came, it was clear as day. A bright white light created a divide in the sky. The sound of it came next. Loud, and big, and _everywhere_.

Everything from last night came flooding back as the thin walls I’d managed to build to block it all out crashed down instantly.

I’d blacked out. Came to an hour or two later, at least that’s what Dottie told me. My head was still sore from hitting it on a seat at the football pitch, and despite the copious painkillers I’d had, it did little to ease the throbbing. Nora had tried to explain what had happened, but she was saying too many words too fast and my confusion must have been obvious, because Rachel quickly stopped her and spelled it out to me clearer; ‘ _Dude, you broke your glass ceiling._ ’

‘ _I’ll say,_ ’ Dottie had added. ‘ _And smashed it into like a billion fucking pieces.’_

I swallowed thickly as my eyes remained fixed on Toni’s phone. She’d played the video a second time before returning to Martha’s messages to get more context.

“People think it’s that new Unsinkable,” she explained. “The one in the blue that got kidnapped by The Watchdogs? She must’ve got out, huh?”

“Mmm,” I hummed in agreement, but my mind was running all over the place.

“They’re calling her _Voltage_ ,” Toni read aloud. “Shit...”

“What?” I asked quickly. “ _What?_ ”

“People are calling for a showdown between The Unsinkables and The Watchdogs,” Toni explained. “They want blood.”

I swallowed and got to my feet, grabbing a jacket from the back of my chair, half way out the door before it was fully on properly.

“Shelby where are you going?” I heard Toni ask, and I almost didn’t answer.

“Uh, just… _Out_ ,” I said vaguely, turning to face her in an attempt to try and get my point across better. “Have some water and lie down, okay? You always feel better after a nap, so.”

“Hey, wait a sec,” she called out, fumbling in her backpack and pulling out something shiny I couldn’t quite make out. “I got you this.” She held out a small silver keyring with the letters _‘T’_ and _‘S’_ intertwined together.

“I think it’s meant to be a Taylor Swift thing, but it works for us too, right? T for Toni, S for Shelby – plus you love Taylor Swift…” I could see her cheeks burning as she explained the gift. “Anyways, I just thought, as a sorry for missing game night… I don’t know, It’s dumb-”

“I love it,” I cut in quickly, the smile on my face genuine. “You really didn’t have to, Toni, but I love it, truly. You’re so thoughtful.”

She itched at the back of her neck, not meeting my eyes. “I’m glad you like it,” was all she managed to get out before I wrapped my arms around her.

“Thank you, Toni,” I mumbled into her hair.

I don’t think either of us were convinced I was just talking about the keyring. “Here,” I said, drawing back from our embrace to hook the gift on my the top chain of my layered necklace. “So I’ll never lose it.”

Toni smiled up at me then, eyes warm and bright and _Lord,_ how I wished I could stand here all day just staring into those deep brown eyes. “Don’t be too long, okay? I feel like I haven’t seen you in days.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” I smiled before turning and finally leaving my dorm.

***

I’d marched all the way to The Unsinkables office front and my face must’ve given away the worry that was brewing in my head, because as soon as I stood in front of the desk (manned today by Rachel), she nodded back towards our meeting room. I gave her a quick ‘ _thank you_ ’ and headed through the glass doors and burst through to the meeting room. It wasn't as messy as I'd anticipated, but I could tell the news had reached them. Gretchen was pacing up and down, flipping aggressively through the papers attached to her clipboard, muttering to herself. Nora seemed to be writing furiously in a notepad, though I couldn’t understand what for. Dottie, however, seemed perfectly calm. She was just sat in a chair at the back of the room with her arms folded. Rachel came in moments later behind me and took a seat next to her sister, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“I take it y’all have seen the news, too,” I sighed, hesitating to take a seat.

“Oh, we’ve seen it,” Gretchen agreed, stopping in her tracks to stare me down. “Sit down, you’re making me more nervous.”

“Voltage’s a pretty sick name though,” cut in Dottie. “You gonna stick with it?”

“Can we _focus_ people?” Gretchen ordered. “This has the chance to make or break us. After that little _incident_ with Shelby-”

“Voltage,” corrected Dottie.

“With _Voltage_ getting abducted by The Watchdogs,” Gretchen continued with a glare at Dot. “People have become a bit more…”

“Sceptical?” Rachel filled in.

“Exactly. So we need to play this _very_ carefully. She- _Voltage_ has the potential to bring in a whole new branch of people, and as we _all_ know, the more people who are with us, the more we can save.”

My heart drummed in my chest as I played with my necklace, doing anything to try and distract myself from what was going on here; we were going to have to fight, _again_ , and while usually the idea of taking on people actively trying to _stop_ us from saving people, since last night, the idea of using my powers made my stomach summersault.

“We need to make the first move,” Gretchen continued. “If The Watchdogs issue a public statement before us, they get the upper hand.”

“So what are we sayin’?”

“I’ve got Susan working on it,” Gretchen explained. “But what I need you to do now, team, is to get out there in your costumes and drum up support. Press interviews, selfies with teenagers, local news, I don’t _care_. If your faces aren’t on _Facebook_ in the hour I’ll be pissed.”

Nora sheepishly raised her hand, looking up from her notes for the first time since I’d got here. “Yes, Optic, you can remain under the cloak of your abilities, but try and get a few pictures? It’ll build a good image.”

“You’ll probably get a lot of hype, Shelby,” Rachel warned. “You’re public enemy number one.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“I think she means you’re picking up traction,” Nora filled in. “She’s right though, you’ll get swarmed.”

“That’s alright,” I smiled to her. “Maybe my pageant days will _finally_ come in use.”

“Lets suit up ladies!” Dottie shouted, enthusiastically jumping from her seat and clapping her hands together.


	10. The One With The Public Relations Stunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni's thoughts are torn between whatever the *hell* is brewing between her and her roommate and her duties to The Watchdogs as both sides gear up for their very public fight

-TONI-

With Shelby out, I took the opportunity to head to The Watchdogs’ base, definitely not taking anywhere near as many turns and twists as I should’ve. I bashed on the heavy metal exit door and Fatin pulled open the lock. Her face was uncharacteristically concerned and that didn’t really fill me with confidence. Neither did the lack of a quippy remark or even a ‘ _hello_ ’. She nodded back into the room and I followed her in only to find a gathering of every staff member crowding around a large flat-screen that hung from the ceiling.

I watched on in confusion, as Leah flicked through the news channels. All the headlines were different, but they were reporting on the same thing. _The Unsinkables were challenging us_. I swallowed as Leah stopped on Director Young’s command. A news reporter stood with a microphone up to her lips and a smile on her face as she listed off the same facts that had been circulating all the other channels when the camera panned out to reveal the newbie, smile plastered on her face and hands in a power pose on her hips.

“ _I’m happy to be joined today by Voltage! The Unsinkable’s newest member!”_ the reporter said with a smile. “ _So, Voltage, tell us some more about yourself? What can we expect to see from you?”_

 _“Well,”_ began the blonde in the same Southern accent that filled this place. “ _I have what they call electrical-manipulation. I can’t make electricity, but I can use it.”_

_“Oooo could we get a little demonstration?”_

The girl’s smile faulted for only a second before it was quickly fixed back in it’s place. _“I’m afraid I can’t today, Cheryl. We’ve been told to save our energy for the oncoming fight.”_

The girl turned to the camera then, staring right down the lens, making me push down another swallow.

“Bitch!” hissed Fatin, earning her a series of groans in agreement.

“ _Ah, yes, the fight,”_ continued Cheryl. “ _Why we’re all here today! Do you want to tell us a little more about it?”_

 _“Of course,”_ the new girl nodded along. “ _We would like to **publicly** declare that we’d like to challenge The Watchdogs to an open fight in the museum parking lot tomorrow night, 10:30PM. Bring as many operatives as you want. We just wanna settle things with y’all.” _

The girl had been staring right into the camera the entire time and I couldn’t help but feel like she was staring right at me. It did nothing but make my blood boil beneath the skin, but there was something else there, too. _Nerves? Pfff._ I dismissed the thought before it even fully formed.

“I’m sure you fucking do,” Fatin called out as if the girl could hear her. “Not worried we’ll catch you again?”

I slapped her in the arm so I could listen in to the news as Cheryl pushed further:

 _“That lightning strike we’ve all been seein’,”_ she began. “ _Were you responsible for that?”_

 _“I couldn’t possibly take responsibility for somethin’ like that, Cheryl,”_ she smiled, saccharine-sweet.

_“Do you know who **was** responsible?” _

_“If I had to guess, I’d say the Good Lord above.”_ She smiled even wider at that.

I snatched the remote from Leah and changed the channel, instead flickering to a dual-interview with both Conveyance and Freestyle. The same questions were being asked, mostly about the apparent fight, and I shoved the remote back into Leah’s hands before storming away.

My feet took me to the training room, but I didn’t want to train. I considered taking out my feelings on the heavy sandbag from yesterday, but my knuckles probably needed the break, so I just sat with my back to the mirrored wall and pulled out my phone to scroll through Instagram. Unsurprisingly, my whole feed was people’s personal takes on the news, pretty much all of them hyping up The Unsinkables and more specifically the new girl.

_Voltage is f**king fire! _

_This is some real Storm sh*t_

_Yesssss! Been waiting for someone like this!_

My thumb pressed the search bar and there was barely a pause to think before I was typing out Shelby’s name. I told myself it was to make sure she was okay, or maybe to see her take on the news, but after I’d scrolled over the past three months of posts only to stop on a picture of her led out on a sunbed, tanned skin glowing under the scorching Texas sun, I think I _knew_ it was more than just a check-up. I heard the door click open and Fatin soon entered, a confused look on her face.

“Dude, what’s wrong with you?” she asked bluntly, joining me on the floor. 

“Do you have a trigger?” I asked without thinking.

“Like a kill-switch?"

I nodded. “I mean kinda – Young didn’t make you come up with one when you joined?”

“Oh _that_ ,” she sighed. “I mean, I thought it was a bunch of shit at first, but Leah said it really helps so yeah, I do.”

“What is it?”

“Can’t tell you that,” Fatin smirked. “It’s like wishing on your birthday candles, it’ll ruin it.”

I let my head thud back against the wall and let out a huff, laying my phone on the floor face down.

“This is your roommate right?” came Fatin’s voice. I looked over to find her with my phone in her hand, scrolling through Shelby’s posts. “You know, she kinda looks like that new sinkable.”

“Dude shut up,” I groaned, snatching my phone out of her hands and locking it before placing it back on the floor between us. “I’m worried about her, she totally took off this morning.” 

“Just ask her out already, seriously. You’re getting too clingy.”

I hit her in the bicep winning me a feeble punch to the thigh in return. “She’s my roommate, I fuck that up the rest of the years’ gonna be fucking awkward.”

“Why do you _always_ look at the negatives,” tutted Fatin.

“Isn’t that kinda our mission statement? We’re literally ‘anti-hero’.”

“Hey, they’re not heroes,” Fatin corrected for me. “So we’re technically anti-public terrorist, which is a good thing.”

I hummed in agreement as I checked the time. “I should probably get back before someone notices I’m missing – Shelbs put me on bedrest for my head.”

Fatin stood up before me and offered a hand. I took it to help pull myself up and we headed out of the training room only to be confronted immediately by Marty and a stack of A5 posters. I took one and scanned over the page; ‘ _We Accept The Challenge.’_ was the only text, and the background was white with the exception of a black ‘ _W’_ in the centre which had become our logo after we started drawing them on our cheeks.

“Made those quick,” I noted, carefully replacing the poster on the top of the stack in Marty’s arms.

“We’ve been seeing this on the horizon for weeks now,” Marty explained. “Could you take some and plaster them all over town? No way am I and the communications team covering the whole area in a night.

“Sure,” I smiled, taking a thick wad off the top.

“Fatin?” Marty pushed, offering the stack out to her.

“Ergh, _fine_ ,” she huffed, taking about ten from the top of the pile.

“Thanks guys!” Marty beamed. “Oh – Young’s holding a meeting at 10 tomorrow – PM – all units with any training are required to attend. This is a big operation.”

***

I was home less than five minutes before Shelby whirled in through the door. I quickly dipped under my sheets, snuggling against my pillow and closing my eyes to pretend to be asleep.

“Aww,” I heard Shelby mutter quietly, feeling her lingering just above me.

I let my eyes flicker open as slowly as I could, stretching out my arms and letting out a faux-yawn. “Hey,” I growled out, giving my voice as much of a grumble as I usually had in the mornings.

“Shoot I’m sorry Toni,” she said softly, kneeling down beside my bed and resting her arms and chin on my mattress. “You can go back to sleep if you want, I’ll be real quiet.”

“It’s chill,” I smiled, sitting up on my elbows to look at her. “Actually, do you wanna go out? Like to a bar or something?”

“I-” I prepared for her to say no, say she had assignments due or any of her other usual afternoon-evening habits. “You know, I’d love to.”

I felt the grin spreading across my face as I practically jumped out of bed to get ready. It had been too long since we’d gone out, and frankly, if I didn’t make it back from tomorrow… I didn’t dwell on the thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope everyone's still enjoying! 
> 
> Troubles a-brewin' ay? 
> 
> Constructive criticism is always welcome!
> 
> Updates soon besties! <3


	11. The One With A Big Fight But Even Bigger Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
> The Unsinkables challenged The Watchdogs to a very public battle to settle the score. Toni's feelings for Shelby got even more intense and Shelby worried about how her true power went a bit too public
> 
> This Chapter:  
> The fight between The Unsinkables and The Watchdogs takes place, but things get a little bit derailed when the plan goes slightly awry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you for all the comments and kudos! 
> 
> This one was a little harder to write, but it's also a little longer, so hopefully that makes up for it 
> 
> As always, constructive criticism is always welcome
> 
> Toni's POV soon <3
> 
> Warning: Quite a bit of violence

-SHELBY-

“This was so stupid,” I blurted out in the back of the transportation van. “It’s just a terrible idea! I don’t want to hurt these people!”

“We’re not hurting them,” dismissed Dottie confidently. “We just need to rough them up a little so they run off scared.”

“You think that’s gonna scare ‘em?” Rachel chimed in. “We need to do _some_ damage.”

“I am _not_ intentionally hurtin’ someone,” I clarified. “I didn’t sign up for that.”

“None of us did,” agreed Nora.

“Look, Shelby, we don’t get these fuckers off our back they’re gonna stop us from helping _actual_ people who need us.”

I let out a huff, tying my mask behind my head. “It just doesn’t seem right.”

“Way of the world, Goodkind,” Rachel said, a hint of aggression lingering on every word.

As we pulled up, I looked out the rear-window to see a large gathering of people loosely held back by policeman. Then I saw _them_. Dressed uniformly head-to-toe in black. The reflective goggles were worn over black balaclavas, and if I hadn’t known they were real people, I’d be convinced they were some weird art instalment by the motionlessness of them.

I adjusted my gloves as the van pulled up, Freestyle and Optic jumping out immediately. I quickly grabbed at Dottie’s arm to hold her back.

“I don’t think I can do this,” I muttered.

“Shelby, you’ll be fine.”

“ _Dottie_ ,” I hissed. “I haven’t been able to use my powers since that night… They feel so far away.”

“ _What?_ Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I don’t know, I just…” I trailed off, eyes fixed on the floor.

“Look it’s fine,” Dottie sighed out. “Just go hand to hand, okay?”

I swallowed and nodded, standing with a ducked head to jump out of the van next to the rest of my team.

We lined out opposite to The Watchdogs. There were nowhere near as many of them as I’d anticipated; what I’d expected to be hundreds of operatives was barely a group of forty. My eyes ran over each one of them, taking them in until I stopped looking about halfway in. _That girl_. My eyes fixed on her and I knew hers were probably fixed on me underneath her reflective goggles. I felt a fire start to bubble up in my chest.

“That one’s _mine_ ,” I whispered to Rachel and she nodded in agreement.

Dottie stepped forward and cleared her throat, hands firmly on her hips. If there wasn’t such a whirlwind of emotions going on all over my body, I’d say she looked ridiculous. We all did. Why _do_ we wear capes and spandex?

“We don’t want to hurt any one of you,” Conveyance said loud and clearly. “We just want you to know if you don’t get out of our way and let us do our _job_ , there’ll be repercussions.”

Someone from The Watchdogs stepped forward, offering themselves as their make-shift leader. “With all due respect, Sinkable, your job seems to be causing widespread public disruption and destruction,” they said, the same voice changer I’d heard when they’d captured me altering their voice. “We don’t want to fight, but it’d be naïve to think we can come to a mutual agreement.”

“If that’s how this has to be done,” levelled Conveyance. “Then we’d agree to those terms.”

The Watchdogs’ leader nodded once and stepped back into line with the rest of their operatives, and Conveyance returned back into our line between Freestyle and Optic. I could see the tightening of gloves and fists start to clench in anticipation, someone waiting for _someone_ to make a move. My eyes fell on the girl again, and I noticed her goggles ever so slightly turned towards the crowd of people that had been growing larger and larger since we’d got her. I saw Freestyle go to lurch forward and quickly threw out an arm to stop her.

“Wait!” I shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. I felt hundreds of eyes on me, waiting for me to continue. “Look, if we’re doin’ this, I don’t want the public in a position where they could get hurt.”

The girl’s altered voice came out, then. “Bit hypocritical coming from one of you, but I agree.”

Freestyle turned to me and I could tell from her eyes she was _pissed_. “How do you propose we fix _that_ then, Voltage?”

“Uh…” I hadn’t thought this far. “I-”

“I’ll teleport you all,” offered out Conveyance. “At least then our location isn’t known.”

“And give you the opportunity to teleport us _anywhere_? I don’t think so,” called out a Watchdog.

“What do _you_ suggest, then?”

“Let a news team stay to film, everyone else has to be pushed back further.”

 _That could work_. Without a second guess, I ran up to the police and told them of our plan. He nodded once and brought through a news team, halting them next to me. He then pushed his team back, furthering the crowd from us. When they’d been pushed back enough, I gave the police a quick thumbs up before jogging back to my place next to Freestyle.

“Nice saviour complex,” she hissed at me before returning her focus to The Watchdogs.

I didn’t see who started it, but in a matter of seconds both sides were upon each other, kicking and punching and knocking people clean out. Freestyle was zipping in and out of The Watchdogs, clearing a line wherever she went. I managed to see a trail of people falling over from Optic sneaking around and tripping them up. Then there was Conveyance, teleporting people all around the parking lot and clearly confusing them.

Not that The Watchdogs weren’t giving as good as they got; Freestyle had been caught off guard when someone had managed to trip her up, sending her flying to the floor as a group descended on her. Optic had gone to help but they must’ve had someway to track her movements, as she was soon being wrangled on the floor with ropes. Conveyance had managed to slip out of being contained due to her abilities, but it was clear she was struggling to keep them off of her.

I’d managed to fight off someone with a baton and tried to make it towards Freestyle when I felt something hit me in the side of the head _hard_ , knocking me to the floor.

“Got a bone to pick with you, Newbie,” came the now familiarly altered voice.

I pushed myself up quickly and held up my fists, readying myself for the inbound attack. She punched once at my face and I blocked it with my forearms.

“That stunt you pulled,” she said before getting in a right hook to my jaw. “Made me look real shit, you know that?”

“Well I _am_ sorry I embarrassed you,” I retorted, landing a left hook and right jab to her nose. “But I was tryin’ not to die.”

“We wouldn’t have killed you-”

She fell to the floor as I kicked her hard in the stomach, winding her. Someone else kicked at the back of my shin and I toppled over, landing on top of the girl.

“Back off Rilke, she’s mine!” the girl growled underneath me.

We looked at each other for a matter of milliseconds before she locked a leg around the back of mine and turned us over. She sat up on her knees before punching down at my face, landing blows to my jaw, nose and temples. I jerked her upwards, sending her flying to my left as I scrambled to my feet which I immediately knew was the wrong move when my head started spinning and I faltered, winning me yet another punch to the jaw as I fell to the floor, pain searing all over.

That’s when I felt it again.

It rushed into me without warning, and my eyes flickered open, buzzing with what felt like the electrical energy of the _whole_ city. A smirk found my lips as I threw my fists in the air only to slam them back down into the ground I was still flat against.

The whole ground pulsed with my powers and let out a _zap_ as I heard the bodies of everyone in the immediate area fall to the floor. The blood trickling into my mouth tasted metallic and wet against my lips, but my smile relaxed me. _I did it._

_We’d won._

“Plan B!” was shouted out by either Freestyle or Conveyance, I couldn't tell. 

My eyes instantly widened and the smile was gone instantly. “ _No_ ,” I breathed out, pushing myself up against the tarmac of the parking lot.

I staggered when I was upright, but just about managed to stay stood when I saw it start. _The onslaught_. That’s all Plan B was. They could call it what they wanted and wrap it up in a bow but it didn’t take away from the fact it was _barbaric_. Operatives screamed and fell to the floor in pain as my team attacked them with the blades we were to carry on our person ‘just in case’.

“What the fuck is Plan B?” I heard the girl call out as she launched herself at me yet again.

I managed to avoid her punch and quickly grabbed onto her wrists. I pulled my mask over the top of my head, not caring who saw me, not now. “You need to get out of here,” I said seriously. “You stay, you’re dead.”

“ _Shelby?”_

I recognised that voice. The alteration device must’ve been smashed or lost somewhere in our fight and I _knew_ it. It was the same voice I’d spent the last six months listening to every morning. The same voice I’d hear cheer at basketball games on the TV. The voice I could listen to for hours and be perfectly content. _Toni_. 

“We’re leavin’,” I ordered, pulling on her wrist.

She pulled away and I turned to tell her we had to hurry up when I saw her slowly walking backwards, shaking her head as she pulled off her goggles and balaclava, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

I went to go after, knowing she was too stubborn to listen to reason, but then a blur rushed past her and she was staring down at her stomach as crimson red started to seep through her shirt and I stopped dead in my tracks.

My mouth dropped open and I saw her mouth _‘Go’_ , and with that I turned on my heels and ran faster than I ever had before.


	12. The One With Blood Loss & Arguing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of the fight, neither Toni or Shelby knows where they stand with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo besties...
> 
> This one is a long one. I wanted to split it, but it didn't seem right, so hopefully you'll enjoy the extra 1k words! 
> 
> Thanks as always for your comments and kudos, they're always super motivating!   
> Constructive criticism is welcome as always, and updates will be out soon <3
> 
> Warning: Injury detail

-TONI-

I stumbled into the shared room I’d taken to calling home, hoping desperately Shelby had by some miracle gone somewhere that wasn’t _here_ so I could clean myself up, grab a change of clothes, and disappear again before she noticed I’d even been there.

At least, that would’ve been the plan if I wasn’t 99% sure my roommate – the girl I’d spent the last six months basically _pining_ over – was actually _that_ girl. The cocky new Sinkable who’d fucked me up with one single kiss.

“Shit…”I mumbled quietly as I saw the girl sat at her desk.

Shelby _wasn’t_ somewhere else. She was right here in front of me. As I stepped further into the dimly lit dorm room, I wheezed at the pain that shot through my side as my weight shifted awkwardly. Shelby’s silhouette glowed warmly in the gentle light of her desk lamp and I watched her back tense as she capped her pen, setting it to her side as her shoulders rose with a sharp intake of breath.

“Toni.” It wasn’t a question.

I reached out for the corner of my bed for balance, quickly choosing to take a seat, groaning as another sharp pain stabbed it’s way through my whole body. I only discovered sitting down was the _wrong_ choice when I felt a distinct _squelch_ , wet against the hand I had pressed into my abdomen.

“How’s Freestyle’s blade treatin’ you?”

And there it was. She’d admitted it out loud, confirming that my 1% of doubt was misplaced. For that, at least, I was thankful – that it didn’t fall on _me_. But that did next to nothing to stop the tightness in my chest I tried helplessly to convince myself was somehow related to my wounded stomach.

“So it is you,” I growled, trying my hardest to sound nowhere near as in pain as I was. “I never could quite place that voice of the new Sinkable side-kick.”

“ _Sidekick_?” Shelby repeated. _Maybe_ insulting her wasn’t my best route, but it was the only front I could keep up. “ _Sinkable?”_

“Are you just gonna repeat everything I said?” I snapped.

“I can’t believe this…” Shelby muttered under her breath, pushing out from her desk and revealing a notepad and textbook.

_Was she doing work waiting for me after she watched me get stabbed? What the fuck?_

“ _You_ can’t believe it? I’ve been bunking up with some superpowered nutcase for the past half a year!”

“ _Don’t_ call me that.” Her voice seemed to echo all over the room and it was completely suffocating.

She’d taken a step towards me with her warning, and I decided to do my best to hold her gaze bravely. I didn’t feel brave. I could see the electricity dancing behind her eyes, her balled up fists, the tightness in her jaw. This wasn’t the Shelby I knew, but it was very clear this was the _real_ Shelby.

I didn’t feel brave. I felt scared.

“Gonna kill me, Shelbs?” I challenged, determined not to let the quiver in my lip too obvious. “Finish off the job?”

I watched the harshness behind her eyes fault, but her fists stayed clenched as she swallowed. “The Unsinkables aren’t killers,” she levelled, but even she didn’t sound convinced. “Isn’t that _your_ job.”

“Were we at the same fucking fight?” I snorted in disbelief. “Just ‘cause _you_ didn’t get your hands dirty don’t mean they’re not just as covered in blood as the rest of your team.”

The anger that had previously dwindled had returned with almost twice the fire as my roommate grabbed my collar and dragged me from my bed. I couldn’t stifle the pained gasp that escaped my throat as another shockwave of pain clawed at me. Shelby’s eyes flickered down to the bloody hand pressed against my stomach, and she chewed on her bottom lip as if considering whether to proceed with our dispute or help me before her eyes returned to mine and locked themselves firmly in place.

I wasn’t about to let that go, though. I needed everything I could get.

“See, Shelbs?” I grinned despite the unrelenting sting making it’s way around my body, catching in my throat. “This is what happens to people who get close to The Sinkables.”

I could tell she wanted to argue, to tell me how _wrong_ I was. But I could also tell there was an internal conflict waging a war in her mind. She released my collar and dropped her gaze back to my stomach.

“Does it hurt?” she asked in little more than a whisper.

I let out a cold, empty laugh. “No, Shelby. Can’t feel a fucking thing.”

I took the opportunity to return to my bed, not trusting my legs enough to hold my weight.

“Wait here,” she mumbled under her breath as she quickly disappeared into our en suite.

I carefully led down, neglecting the chance to go at Shelby again. I closed my eyes and tried my best to take my mind off the dizziness that had crept up on me as soon as I’d been dragged up from my bed. _My trigger_. I’d figured out what it was last night when I was at the bar with Shelby. We’d laughed and joked and smiled and when a silence fell over the two of us, it was comfortable. She was my trigger. What would get me through the worst of being a Watchdog.

But even that was tainted, now.

I heard her making her way out of the bathroom and opened my eyes, dismissing the idea to sit back up when the thought brought on a wave of nausea. I felt my bed dip as Shelby sat next to me, but I refused to let my gaze wander towards her.

“Can you sit up?” I heard her ask softly.

“Why are you trying to help me?” I asked in a weak groan.

“Am I not allowed?”

My eyes found hers, then. I swallowed hard when the green eyes I’d expected to still be filled with hate and anger were instead bursting with worry. I looked away as quickly as I could.

“I don’t get it,” I began. “Does something about that mask and cape turn you into someone else? Is it just a power trip to you? Get your kicks playing hero? Do you just like hurting-”

“Will you _stop_?” Shelby interrupted. “How can you say that? You know me better than anyone.”

I swallowed again, trying my best not to succumb to the overwhelming urge to vomit. “Do I? Because the Shelby I saw out there… I’ve never met that girl in my life.”

I heard Shelby sigh and soon felt a hand brush against my side. I quickly – but weakly – pushed at her shoulder, and I was thankful she seemed to get the message. At least I _thought_ she did until I felt her tilting my head to face her.

“Let me help.” Once again, it wasn’t a question.

I glared at her, but ultimately sighed and gave her a fragile nod. The pain was getting to be too much and I wasn’t about to let my stubbornness kill me. A relieved smile flashed across Shelby’s face as she cupped my cheeks with both hands. I felt an instant wave of warmth flush over me as all my pain and nausea suddenly dissipated. I quickly sat up and stared at my roommate in awe.

“Careful,” she warned. “You might not feel it but you’re still _very much_ hurt.”

“H-how… _What?_ ” I babbled out nonsensically.

“Everythin’ in our body is made up of electrical impulses,” she muttered. “I control electricity…”

“I figured that meant like, lamps and shit! Not… _that_.”

A smile spread across her lips as she handed me some painkillers and a glass of water which I took quickly.

“Uh, are we still arguin’ or can I get you out of that shirt?”

I dropped the glass, spilling water all over my lap as my cheeks blushed red. “Shit. S-sorry, I-”

“It’s okay, I just…” Shelby trailed off as she picked up the glass and set it on her desk. “We should probably get that gash sorted before you like, bleed out, right?”

My face somehow got warmer as I brushed down my tight work trousers. “Yeah, right. That’s– yeah. We should.”

Shelby shifted again and moved off the bed, instead settling on her knees between my legs. Words rose and caught in my throat, eventually evaporating entirely before they came out. We sat there in silence after that; only for a moment, but silence nonetheless. Shelby thankfully broke it.

“So you want to take it off or is it gonna be too hard?”

“Right…” I breathed out as I tried and failed _multiple_ times to remove the cold gear I was left in.

“Lord, please stop!” Shelby declared as she reached for my hands, pinning them to my thighs. “Let me, okay?”

I nodded, frankly embarrassed with myself. She flashed me a quick grin before she rose from her knees and carefully pealed of the undershirt, her touch so gentle I barely noticed when my shirt was clean off. I noticed her breath hitch as she stared down at my body, though I was unsure whether it was from the severity of my injury or because she was checking me out.

_Snap out of it Shalifoe. She’s the enemy._

“Might need a few stitches,” Shelby muttered, more to herself than me.

I watched as she fumbled about with a first aid kit she must’ve retrieved on her trip to the bathroom. I couldn’t take my eyes away from her as she tentatively dabbed around the wound with a damp flannel, free hand secured on my bare shoulder to ‘regulate my pain’. _Apparently_.

“Is this like our thing now? You patching me up?”

She shot me a smile, but it didn’t seem to have the strength behind it like it usually did. “Uh, Toni?” she spoke softly.

“Mmm?”

“This is goin’ to hurt however hard I try, so you’re gonna need to be strong for me, okay?”

A shiver ran down my spine at her words. _God, why did she have this hold over me_? I simply nodded, unable to form my own words.

“God you’re so brave,” she sighed as she ran a sewing needle through the flame of a lighter before threading it. “When I was younger, I split my elbow open an a huntin’ trip with my daddy. Had to get three stitches.”

“What happened?” I asked as she knotted the thread.

“Oh I passed out,” she replied nonchalantly. “As soon as I saw that needle, I was gone.”

I let out a small laugh at the same time Shelby pushed the pointed steel into my flesh.

“ _Ow_. You mother _fucker!_ ” I screamed out.

“God I’m so sorry!” Shelby winced out through gritted teeth.

She met my eyes with her own, and if I didn’t know any better I’d say something a bit more than friendly passed between us. I blinked once at my roommate and her eyes widened before she returned to my injury.

“People say it’s easier if you distract yourself,” she explained as she tried her best to look busy. “Anything you wanna talk about?”

I swallowed. There was _one_ place my mind went instantly which I cursed myself for, but now seemed as good a time as any to bring it up.

“That kiss,” I managed to get out.

Shelby’s hand faulted and a sharp pain shot into me. I tried my best to muffle the yelp that escaped my lips with the back of my hand, but both of us heard it as an unrestrained tear rolled down my cheek from the pain.

“Shoot, I’m-” I could tell Shelby wanted to apologise for the mishap, but as soon as our eyes met, the words died before I got to hear them. “It was the only thing I could think of – you _did_ have me tied to a chair…”

I snorted at that. “You panicked and kissed your way out of it?” I grinned. “Can’t hate on that technique…”

Shelby smiled back and it seemed the most genuine smile I’d ever seen. “Why’d you ask anyways?” she asked, going in again with the needle.

“ _Fuck_ ,” I groaned quietly. “I don’t know, I guess…” I trailed off, not thinking of the words that came afterwards before I blurted them out. “I liked it.”

Shelby bit down on her lip as she focused on my abdomen. Her open palm was still pressed against my shoulder and I realised I should probably be thankful for whatever pain relief she was channelling through my body, but I couldn’t help the uneasy feeling it was eliciting from me. I was waiting for her to say something before I shot my mouth off.

_Too late._

“I just mean that, like- I didn’t _like_ it, I mean I _did_ , but not like-”

“I probably would’ve enjoyed it more if I wasn’t so worried I was goin’ to die,” she interrupted with a smirk. “But your lips are super soft, if that’s anything…”

My cheeks flushed red at the thought of Shelby finding my lips _soft_. I tried to push it to the back of my mind, but it was completely useless. She met my eyes again and smiled sweetly. _My heart’s not cut out for this…_

“One more for me, okay?” she muttered, her bare hand skating across my shoulder to hook behind my neck, thumb brushing my cheek.

My lip quivered at the touch, but I couldn’t avert my eyes from Shelby’s. I gulped down the lump in my throat and nodded my head, cursing myself for the lack of words coming out of my mouth.

The pinch of the needle came again, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had previously. I knew I had Shelby to thank for that, but I’d never admit it.

“You’re done!” she beamed, clipping the thread with nail scissors. “Now I’m no doctor, but I think I _nailed_ it.”

I looked down at my stomach, poking around my tender skin gently. Shelby’s stitches were neat and uniform and I couldn’t help the smile on my face.

“I’d say so too.” I cringed at the shake in my voice. _What_ was wrong with me?

“Toni,” came Shelby’s voice, lower than I think I’d ever heard it.

“Y-yeah?” I stuttered out as my eyes met Shelby’s dark ones.

“I am _so_ sorry.”

“We don’t have to do this,” I warned quietly, not wanting the harsh reality of our situation to come crashing back down on us. “Not yet.”

Shelby gently rested her forehead against mine and I could feel her breathing getting more and more uneven as a tear ran down her cheek silently.

“Does it still hurt?” she asked in a shaky whisper.

“A little…” I muttered as my skin started tingling with excitement. “Is that…”

“I don’t think I can help it…”

Without another second passing, I felt her lips on mine, warm and heavy and desperate. Shelby’s free hand came up to cup the other side of my cheek as she drew me in closer to deepen our kiss.

I heard Shelby’s phone start to ring, and she seemed content ignoring it, but when it kept going _I_ couldn’t overlook it.

“You need to get that?” I asked, breaking off our kiss.

She groaned against my lips and threw out a hand, flapping about until she dragged her phone to look at it’s screen. I watched her eyebrows furrow and a sigh escape.

“We’re still not doing… _That_ , right?” she asked deadly serious.

I swallowed. “You need to get it,” I repeated, more as a statement than I question.

“I don’t have to.”

I answered Shelby’s question by pulling her face back towards mine, crushing our lips together for a second time. She stood up, careful not to break our kiss as she wrapped one arm around my back and the other dipped lower as she hinted for me wrap my legs around her, so I did so dutifully.

I barely felt the sting of my stomach as Shelby’s powers tingled all over my body, and that mixed with the sensation of her tongue slipping into my mouth drew out an obscene moan from my throat.

Shelby’s still ringing phone was long forgotten.


	13. The One With Screaming & Fighting & Kissing In The Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
> The battle between The Watchdogs and The Unsinkables resulted in Toni getting stabbed, and Shelby patched her up until both of their feelings finally got the better of them
> 
> This Chapter:  
> Toni and Shelby can't put their hatred for what each other does aside when an unexpected visitor arrives and threatens to expose Shelby's secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I'm so sorry this took longer to get out than usual, but I had a sudden cleaning kick and decided to put it into use! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Toni's POV should be out soon <3
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome as always :)

-SHELBY-

It had been a week since that night, and it was safe to say things hadn’t exactly got _easier_. Me and Toni spent most of the time trying to avoid each other, and when we couldn’t do that, we’d argue. When the arguments got too heated, though, when we got in each others faces and screamed the dorm down… Well, we usually ended up in one of our beds and _not_ in a sleeping way.

Today, we couldn’t avoid each other.

“My _god_ Shelby!” Toni shouted. “You’re so fucking far up your own ass you can’t see how wrong you are!”

“Well feel free to show me!” I returned. “No one’s stopping you!”

Toni scoffed at that and fished out a hoody from a drawer.

“Oh _where_ are you going?”

“Anywhere that isn’t _here_ ,” she retorted, eyes glazed with anger. “I can’t deal with you when you’re like this. You’re just fucking unreasonable.”

“ _I’m_ unreasonable? You’re the one refusing to see things from my point of view!”

“Sorry I can’t put myself in the shoes of killers, Shelby, it’s just not really my _thing_.”

“I have never once killed someone and you know it!”

“No but your team has, and that’s enough for me to not be all that sympathetic.”

I swallowed, knowing deep down she was right but unwilling to concede the argument. “We did what we had to to make sure _your_ team didn’t hurt anyone.” It was a weak argument, but it was all I had.

“Oh please, you got the upper hand and started slaughtering us for literally no reason,” she countered, and I had to admit I completely agreed. “We lost almost half of the people there, you know that?”

I tried to swallow again, but the lump in my throat didn’t seem to budge. I didn’t know that. “You can take the higher ground all you like, but at least I’m making a difference and not just running around stoppin’ _heroes_ from saving people!”

“We don’t get involved when you’re _actually_ doing that,” Toni retorted, finally coming away from the door to look me in the eye while we fought.

“Oh yeah? What about that bank robbery, huh?”

“I thought you were meant to be smart?” she laughed coldly. “That bank robbery was a set up, Shelby. Your boss had made it up to win you publicity points.”

“How on Earth could you _possibly_ know that?” I asked, folding my arms tightly.

Just as Toni prepared to launch into another self-righteous speech there was a knock and the door and she sighed before going to open it. I heard some hushed whispers then Toni saying ‘ _No_!’ when a girl in a fluffy green coat burst into our room.

“Fatin-” Toni started only to get cut off by the girl gasping when she saw me.

“God I knew you were hot but I didn’t realise you were _hot_ ,” she gawked, offering me a hand. “Hi, I’m Fatin. I work with your slob of a roommate.”

I instantly fixed a smile on my face and shook the girl's hand. “Shelby – and actually, she’s pretty tidy.”

“Why are you here?” Toni asked, getting right to the point.

“Don’t be _too_ welcoming, will you Toni?” she retorted, rolling her eyes and pulling out her phone. “I wanted to come see you, is that so bad?”

“You never come to see me,” Toni replied boorishly. “What do you want?”

“You see that fight last night on the news, Shelby?” Fatin asked, ignoring Toni completely and replacing her phone in her back pocket.

“Uh, yeah,” I lied, trying my best to sound genuine. “Looked pretty brutal.”

“Yeah, it was,” Fatin agreed, and I could hear a note in her voice that promised to challenge me. “My friend was there – Leah Rilke?”

The name stung like a red-hot poker in my chest. _Rilke_. Toni had shouted that name when I was fighting her. When Toni was just that annoying girl with a cocky grin and a faceless voice.

“Is she okay?” I asked as cautiously as I could.

“She actually wound up in hospital,” Fatin said, eyes locking onto mine. “They say she should be fine, but she’s in a pretty bad way.”

“Fatin,” Toni muttered, hand clasping onto her arm. “Stop it.”

“Anyone ever tell you you look _just_ like that new Unsinkable, Shelby?” Fatin pushed, ignoring Toni once again. “Like, _just_ like her.”

“Cut it out.” Toni was in front of me now, putting a physical barrier between me and Fatin.

“I get that she’s cute, Toni, but use your fucking brain for once,” warned Fatin. “Look at her, literally fucking look at her!”

I felt my cheeks start to blaze red and I cursed myself for automatically reaching for my powers, preparing for the possible fight that could unfold. I tried my best to let them go, but they were pulling themselves into me without permission.

“Toni,” I muttered, barely hearing it myself.

It was obvious the other girl didn’t hear it, either, as she completely failed to acknowledge it before pushing on Fatin’s shoulders to put more distance between me and her.

“Seriously Fatin, back the fuck up,” Toni warned again.

“Leah is in _hospital_ because of her!”

“She didn’t do anything!” Toni returned, and I didn’t quite know why she was defending me. “Just because you need someone to blame doesn’t mean you can barge in here-”

“Look at this photo!” Fatin interrupted, showing Toni a picture of me in the Voltage get up from last night. “Are you really going to try and tell me _her_ and blondie here are two different people?”

“I think you need to calm down, Fatin. Leah’s gonna be fine.”

“Yeah she is, not that tall, blonde and _corrupt_ over there helped!”

I could feel the electricity of the whole room burning against my skin, threatening to spill out at any second. I opened my mouth to warn Toni again, but the words died and I couldn’t hold it back anymore. As soon as I saw Fatin grab onto Toni’s shirt it burst out of me without my control, exploding our ceiling light as well as the two desk lamps and my laptop.

A silence fell over the whole room as Fatin released Toni’s shirt and stared at me, mouth hung open. I saw Toni’s jaw tighten as she looked over her shoulder at me, and I couldn’t help but relax – however slightly – under her eye.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fatin muttered under her breath. “You _knew_?”

“I promise this isn’t as bad as it looks-” I tried to defend, but Toni quickly cut me off with a hard glare.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Toni whispered, and for the first time she sounded like she was pleading with the other girl.

Fatin’s eyes shot between me and Toni as she pushed Toni aside easily and made her way towards me, a new caution in her step. She eyed me anew, a sense of worry obvious in her eyes, so her boldness in approaching me at all astounded me but also filled me with my own concerns.

“I swear to God if you had _anything_ to do with Leah-”

“She didn’t,” Toni interrupted. “She left as soon as the shit started.”

Fatin visibly swallowed and turned to Toni as she came to join me by my side. I felt the gentle brush of her fingers against mine.

“You okay?” she muttered, and I only realised she was talking to me when Fatin’s eyebrows raised expectantly.

“Mhmm,” I mumbled in agreement, cheeks flushing even harder.

“Oh I’m glad you two are still buddy-buddy,” Fatin hissed.

“She’s still my roommate Fatin,” sighed Toni. “So fuck me if I want her to be okay.”

“ _Okay_? Fucking okay? She’s fine! She wasn’t the one getting stabbed up for no reason!”

“Your friend,” I quickly interjected. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s stable but they’ve got her on enough painkillers for her to be completely numb,” Fatin explained, but I could hear the underlying sadness in her voice. “I feel like I can’t really reach her.”

“Can you take me to her?” I asked quickly.

“W-what?” Fatin stumbled. “Why?”

“Not to brag or anythin’, but I’m the best painkiller around.”

Fatin’s eyebrow quirked as she looked at Toni for some sort of confirmation, who dutifully nodded. “It’s true. She fixed me up after… you know.”

“Really? Can I see?” Fatin asked suddenly, and I had to avert from eyes from Toni’s abs as she pulled up the side of her basketball vest. “Shit, that’s neat as fuck.”

“The whole electric thing includes, like, body impulses or some shit,” Toni tried to explain. “It’s like, when you drink but you’re not drunk yet? Like that buzz of tipsiness. It’s warm, too, like… comforting warm. Like home.”

My eyes widened at Toni’s words and I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her and tell her how much I felt for her.

But I didn’t.

I stayed put and let the now calmed electric dance all over me, and something in the look Toni was giving me told me she could feel it too.

“Fine,” Fatin said finally. “But you pull _any_ of that shit you just did, I’ll ruin you.”

I smiled at her grabbed the denim jacket off of my bed, slipping my arms through it as I took Fatin’s hands in my own. “I won’t tell you I’ll magically just _fix_ her, but I’ll do everything I can to make her feel better.”

Fatin released a breath and nodded with me, squeezing my hands and seemingly fighting back either tears or nervous laughter, I couldn’t tell which.

“Shelby you don’t have to do this,” Toni asserted. “You’ve got nothing to prove.”

“I think we both know that’s not true, Toni.” I gave her a heavy glance and she returned it, her hand brushing up my arm only to fall back down quickly and shove itself into her pocket when she remembered Fatin was still right in front of us.

“Shall we go then?” she coughed out, pushing past me and Fatin and out the door before we could even agree to get going.


	14. The One With Sobbing & Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shelby and Toni finally talk about how they feel and how to move forward, but it's not the clarity Toni wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! 
> 
> Just wanted to say this one's coming at you with absolutely zero editing because I really need to sleep lol - point is, if there are more errors than usual, that's why
> 
> I'll probably go back and edit in the morning, but I wanted to get this out to you all!
> 
> As always, constructive criticism is always welcome <3

-TONI-

I was unconvinced bringing Shelby into a hospital with three Watchdog operatives was a good idea, but her insistence on trying to help was admittedly kind of cute, so along we went. The nurse seemed reluctant to let us all in when Fatin had gone up to the desk, but when Shelby gently asked to take over, five minutes later and she was nodding us in.

Fatin led us directly to Leah’s room, making it painfully obvious how much she’d gone to visit. She gave Fatin a weak smile as she came in after a light knock on her doorframe. I was ready to follow her when Shelby’s hand curled around mine.

“Give ‘em a minute,” she said softly with a smile.

I furrowed my eyebrows at the girl but waited for a moment anyway before Fatin gave us a wave to come in.

“Have you, uh, explained?” I asked warily.

Fatin shook her head as her fingers intertwined softly with Leah’s. “I couldn’t get the words out.”

“Hey Leah,” I smiled and she offered me the flicker of a smile in return. “This is, uh…”

“I’m Shelby,” Shelby took over with her typical honey-sweet smile. “Now I know you’ll probably hate me for this, but I’m-”

“Shelbs,” I cut in. “She doesn’t need to know. Just… do your thing.”

Shelby frowned but nodded slowly as she brushed Leah’s cheek with her thumb and held her hand, tightening it uncomfortably. I swallowed as my eyes looked towards Fatin. She looked uneasy, eyes fixed on Shelby.

“Toni,” Shelby muttered quietly. “Could you just turn that light on? It’s harder to reach when it’s off.”

I looked at her confused, noting how our lamps and her laptop were turned off when they’d exploded back in our room, but I went to the light anyway and flicked the switch.

“I’m a little nervous,” she said unprompted as I sat back down next to her.

Without thought, I placed my hand on top of the one Shelby had on Leah’s and I felt a sudden rush burst through me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Fatin can you excuse us for two minutes?” Shelby said quickly, not waiting for an answer before grabbing my hand and marching both of us out of the room.

“Shelby what the fuck-”

She cut me of by pushing me against the wall and pressing her lips into mine.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed it when her hand shot up my side and pushed me harder against the wall before she finally took her lips away, mine chasing them for a moment before opening my eyes only to be met by her full green ones.

“Sorry, I just-” she trailed off, only finding the words when she looked away from me. “I just needed it, your energy is like… Insane.”

“Uh, did it help?” I asked, cheeks flushing red.

“I’d say so,” she smirked, meeting my eyes again before placing another quick kiss on my lips. “Thanks.”

She quickly but calmly walked back into the room, me in hand, and sat back down next to Leah. She closed her eyes to focus as she channelled her energy into her, directing all her energy into her.

Leah’s eyes flicked wide open as she glanced over to Shelby then to Fatin. She sat up slowly and Shelby looked over her then, keeping her hands securely in place as she offered her up a smile.

“You okay?” Fatin asked immediately, standing up to meet her.

“Yeah, I actually feel… great,” Leah confessed, obviously confused. “Aren’t you Toni’s roommate?”

“I am,” Shelby smiled.

“Uh, nice to meet you?”

“Leah,” Fatin let out with a sigh. “She’s here because-”

“Fatin,” I interrupted. “Please don’t.”

“I _have_ to, Toni.”

“No you don’t!” I protested. “Just leave it.”

“Shelby,” Fatin said decidedly, changing her tactics. “Do you mind if I tell Leah why you’re here?”

“Yes she _does_ ,” I answered for her, knowing all too well what Shelby would say.

“Toni,” Shelby said in an oddly calm voice. “It’s fine. She needs to know.”

“But-”

“She’s Voltage,” Fatin let out, not letting me finish my sentence.

I quickly jabbed her in the arm from across Leah’s bad and she slapped me back in the arm. Leah’s eyes widened at Shelby as she went to snatch her hands away.

“Babe don’t,” Fatin warned. “She has some weird impulse shit that’s like, taking away your pain or something.”

“Sorry, _babe_?” I questioned. “When did that happen?”

“You’ve been kinda in your head lately, we didn’t want to like, put more pressure on you,” Leah explained.

“You could’ve fucking told me!” I complained, and for a moment the whole thing felt like the most normal situation in the whole world.

But then everything came crashing down.

“Shelby,” Leah started. “I appreciate what you’re doing and everything, but I think you should probably go.”

Shelby’s eyebrows knitted together and a frown fell over her features, but she didn’t remove her hands from Leah’s. “I understand,” she sighed diplomatically. “But you need to know, as soon as I let go of you, all that hurt will come right back, okay?”

Leah swallowed and her eyes shot to Fatin as she put a hand to her cheek and brushed it softly. “You know, I might not say a whole lot on all those visits, but I feel it all. Every single thing.”

Fatin instantly swiped at the tear falling down her cheek before she formed proper tears. “You’re such a dick.”

“Right back at you,” Leah smiled before looking back at Shelby and nodding.

I stared at Shelby as she carefully helped Leah lie back down before letting go of her hand. Leah’s face contorted and winced as all her pain rushed back just like Shelby had said it would. Her eyes fluttered closed and she let herself dose off, her body seemingly exhausted.

I swallowed as Shelby’s eyes glazed over and she abruptly left without a word. Fatin cleared her throat, then, stopping me from chasing after my roommate.

“Don’t get me wrong Toni, what you’re doing is fucking dangerous,” she warned. “But what she just did? That was amazing.”

I smiled at her, knowing all too well her words were nothing but true. This _was_ a dangerous game, and if we both kept it up, one of us was bound to get hurt.

And if I was honest, I didn’t want that person to be Shelby.

“I think she’s a good one, if that helps,” Fatin offered. “She just got in with the wrong people.”

“I think I kinda love her, Fatin,” I let out before my brain had the chance to filter what I was saying. “I- I didn’t mean that.”

“Oooh boy,” Fatin sighed. “You’re in deep, T.”

The sound of the nickname only ever used by Marty made me twitch, and before I knew it, I was crying into my hands. I felt Fatin’s arm slip around my back as she comforted me, and I only stopped sobbing when Fatin’s gentle ‘ _Toni_ ’s finally reached my ears.

“We’ll figure it out, okay?” she reassured. “I wont tell anyone about Shelby and Leah wont either, but that doesn’t mean I wont try and kill her if I see her as Voltage, deal?”

“Deal,” I agreed immediately, keen to approve of any terms that involved Shelby’s name staying out of it. “So you and Leah…”

“Don’t even go there Shalifoe,” warned Fatin. “You’re more fucked up in the love department than me, you’re opinion counts for nothing.”

I let out a laugh and rolled my eyes before they found the empty doorway Shelby had ran out of minutes ago. I heard Fatin let out a sigh beside me and ripped my eyes away to face her.

“Go get your girl, Toni,” she huffed before pushing me out of my chair when I didn’t move.

“If Leah wakes up tell her I hope she feels better,” I said absently as I was already making my way out of the door.

***

When Shelby wasn’t in our dorm, I went to the only other place I could think of. As soon as I approached the glass front of _The Island_ bar, I could see Shelby sat up to the bar. Without a second thought, I walked right through the front door and took the empty seat to her right, ordering a water before finally saying her name when she didn’t say anything at my presence.

“What do you want me to say, Toni?” she returned a bit too quickly. “My mind right now is tellin’ me fifty different things and I don’t have the first idea what to believe.”

I stared down into my glass of water in thought. I couldn’t really put myself in her shoes no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t have some super power or the overwhelming urge to help people like she did, and my morals hadn’t been betrayed by my team like hers had.

“I’m here if you need my help Shelby,” I tried with the only offer I had. “I know we’ve been kind of… _at odds_ with each other, but I’m willing to hear you out.”

Shelby scoffed and finally turned to look at me, leaning on her hand as her elbow rested on the bar. “Have a change of heart after I helped your friend?”

“Shelby, come on-”

“You know how fucking hard that is?” she interrupted. “Ever since that giant lightning strike – or whatever the _hell_ that was – my powers have been more off and on than teenagers cheatin’ on each other. It’s not like I can just flip it on and off whenever I feel like it.”

“I-I… I’m sorry,” I said genuinely. “I didn’t know.”

“You never thought to ask, you were too busy launching into speeches about how wrong I was for fightin’ with The Unsinkables.”

“Because they’re bad people!” I defended, which I instantly knew was the wrong move when Shelby’s eyes hardened. “I don’t think _you’re_ a bad person though, that’s the issue. You’re one of the good ones, just got caught up with the wrong people.”

Imitating Fatin’s words made them resonate with me more than they had the first time and I couldn’t help but bite my lip as Shelby considered them.

“Maybe you’re right,” she said finally, eyes looking down to the floor. “Toni I don’t want to lose the one real thing I’ve ever actually cared about because I’m too stubborn to quit, but at the same time I can’t just up and leave.”

“You care about me?” I blurted out without thinking. _Again_.

Shelby laughed out loud. “Has the past week not given you an idea that I might?”

“I don’t know, we’ve been fighting too,” I posed. “Kinda hard to get a read on where we stand like, emotionally.”

“Well, if you’re still in doubt…” Shelby hummed before planting a gentle but lingering kiss on my lips. “I _do_ care.”

“I don’t want you to quit your job,” I sighed. “But I need you to understand they hurt a lot of people, Shelby.”

“I know,” she let out in barely a whisper. “I’ve got to figure this out by myself though, okay?”

Before I could process the situation, Shelby was gone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! Your comments always motivate me to write more, they're just so encouraging! 
> 
> Once again, I apologise for any mistakes in this, but hopefully it was coherent enough for you to understand lol 
> 
> Also now this is coming to a close, how do you guys feel about a sequel? I may have the bare bones of something in the works, but if that's not really something you guys would be interested in, I'll just leave it lol - anyways, let me know!
> 
> As always, constructive criticism is always welcome :) <3


	15. The One With An Exposé

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:   
> Shelby and Toni tried their best to come to terms with their predicament. The realisation of what Shelby was apart of starts to settle over her as she decided to take the next steps by herself.
> 
> This Chapter:  
> The Watchdogs and The Unsinkables engage in yet another fight, but it's obvious something different is hanging in the air. An unlikely Watchdog ally comes out of the folds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning everyone! Thanks as always for your comments and kudos!
> 
> Hopefully some of your questions will start to be answered in the next few chapters - also thank you to those who left feedback on a possible sequel! It may take me a few days to workshop, but I'll try and get the first chapters of that to you as soon as I can when I wrap this one up!
> 
> As always, constructive criticism is always welcome, and Toni's POV will be up soon :) <3

-SHELBY-

“Toni I can’t do this.”

“So don’t,” she replied like it was the simplest thing in the world. “Call in sick or something.”

“I don’t think I can just call in sick to a frickin’ fight,” I sighed. “Who the hell in your higher ups thought a rematch was a good call?”

Toni shrugged as she pulled on body-tight Under Armour. “Apparently we got info you guys have a weak spot, Young wasn’t just gonna leave that untouched.”

“Where _do_ you get all your information from?” I questioned, narrowing my eyes at the girl and folding my arms.

Her face softened as she crossed the room to me and wrapped her arms around me, clasping her hands together behind my back as she rose ever-so-slightly on her tip-toes to place a soft kiss on my nose and then one on my lips.

“Scared you’re gonna get your ass kicked?” she challenged.

I urged my body to laugh, but I couldn’t get one out as I tensed at her words. “You know that’s not why I’m worried, Toni,” I muttered out.

“Hey, I’ll be safe, okay? Promise.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“Maybe not, but I have you out there secretly saving me, right?”

I rolled my eyes before finally returning her embrace, resting my chin gently on the top of her head. We stayed there for a moment, and when I felt Toni’s heart beating against my own, I couldn’t help the smile on my lips or the tightening of my grip around her.

“Right, we should probably go before people notice we’re missing,” Toni whispered in my ear before kissing me gently on my cheek and returning to her bed to pull on some combat boots.

I pulled on my jacket and headed out of the door first upon Toni’s request, and we parted ways just outside our dorm with a hug.

***

I couldn’t help but glare at Rachel the entire time we were in the transportation van. After what I’d seen her do to Toni, I couldn’t stop myself from glaring at the _very_ least.

I felt a slap on my arm and looked over to find Dottie’s eyes staring back at me, confusion written all over them.

“Why do you keep staring at Rachel?” she asked in a whisper.

“Who called the Plan B order, Dottie?” I asked back with a hiss.

She swallowed and seemed to shut up, and so I resumed my glaring until we eventually pulled up outside a gym. The Watchdogs had chosen the location this time, and I’d hoped they had some plan to use that to their advantage. I couldn’t help but notice the distinct lack of operatives and remembered some faint memory of Toni telling me they had a _plan_ this time.

As we formed our line, my eyes quickly found Toni, and I could tell there was a smirk hidden under her balaclava. I noted how their uniforms had changed; they were completely black, now, with the exception only of a red _‘W’_ emblazoned on the right cheeks of every single balaclava.

Conveyance stepped forward first again, but this time, Toni had taken the mantle of being the leader as she stepped forward to face Conveyance. She offered her hand, and it was shaken dutifully as the two girls nodded once at each other before they both returned to their opposing teams without a word.

I saw Toni pull out some kind of baton and as soon as she did, everyone else followed suit.

 _This girl_.

I don’t know how she’d managed to convince her management to let every single operative carry an _electric_ baton, but something told me it wasn’t just a coincidence. I reached for the power in the air, _just to test_. It almost knocked me over with the sheer force of it.

The Watchdogs launched forward first, and it was obvious they’d had this entire thing planned since before we even got out of the van; they rushed Freestyle first, knowing she was probably they’re biggest threat. They got her to the floor with the buzz of their batons and bound her feet and hands, moving on as fast as they could to Conveyance. Noting how she was going to be the hardest one of us to catch, they split off; a group heading towards Optic and a smaller group heading towards me.

I played my part convincingly, kicking and punching and fighting my way through the group. I made sure not to really _hurt_ anyone, but when they started to get overwhelming, I couldn’t help it when my powers surged defensively, knocking a few operatives to the ground with a taser-like hit.

I felt hands pulling on my wrists and tugging them behind my back harshly. “Make it look good,” I heard a whisper in my ear, instantly recognising it as Toni’s.

I grinned and tugged back at my wrists before she could restrain me, grabbing at her and rolling her over my shoulder. She landed with a hard _thud_ on the tarmac and I immediately got on top of her, restraining her hands hard into the floor. I could see her chest rising and falling as she tried to regain her breath from the harsh impact with the ground, and I reached up to tug off her goggles, wanting to see her eyes.

There was a glint behind her brown eyes, and I could tell she was enjoying it just as much as I was. She managed to push me forward and reverse our positions and I had to admit I struggled against the strength of the other girl. I was just about to push at her again when Gretchen’s voice crackled in my ear.

“ _On my word, we pull a Plan B,_ ” she said clearly, and my fear must’ve been obvious as Toni immediately eased.

I sat up quickly and spun around so I had eyes on my teammates. I closed my eyes, trying my best to focus in on the earpieces specifically, but there was so much electricity I couldn’t pinpoint them. I decided to just use _everything_ , setting off a chain reaction through all the electric batons until the electricity in the air completely died down and I barely felt it.

Satisfied, I let out a breath and open my eyes to see Toni staring back at me with worry. She quickly looked away before returning with a hard right hook to my jaw, knocking me clean to the floor.

“Sorry,” she mumbled into my ear. “People were staring.”

I nodded carefully before submitting to the binding of my wrists and letting Toni, with the help of two other agents, drag me up to a wall and leave me there next to Freestyle.

That’s when I realised they’d made a mistake.

Optic had somehow managed to escape the infrared site of The Watchdogs, and when I felt the binds on my wrists and feet come undone with a _snap_ , a lump formed in my throat.

“Why’d you fry the coms dumbass?” Freestyle hissed at me as Optic cut away at her binds.

“We’re not killers, Rachel,” I pleaded with her. “You can’t tell me you signed up for this.”

Something suddenly changed in her eyes as if this was the first time she’d actually considered the idea. But as soon as her binds were gone, she set off.

I was thankful to see no operatives were falling to the floor in a pool of blood, but when I noticed Toni in Freestyle’s target line, I couldn’t help myself from running at her and flooring her immediately with my body weight.

“What are you _doing_?” Toni hissed at me, trying to push me off of her.

“I’m not lettin’ someone hurt you,” I bit back, and the harshness of my words seemed to snap the girl out of whatever level of pissed off I made her by getting her on the floor for a second time.

She reached to pull up her balaclava slightly and pressed her thumb and forefinger into her lips, letting out a deafening whistle. Around ten operatives suddenly dropped from the rooves of the surrounding buildings with ziplines, and as soon as they landed, canisters of red smoke were released into the air. It was smart, one of the better back-up plans I’d seen. I knew none of my team were going to be able to navigate through the constantly thickening fog, but The Watchdogs and their goggles could find their way through easily.

“Come with me,” Toni said, grabbing at my wrist and pulling me into the back of a van and bashing on the roof.

We quickly sped off, and to say I had no idea where we were going was an understatement.

***

When Toni led me through a bright white corridor, knocking on a heavy metal door when we reached the end, the haziness of what had just happened was still clouding my brain. I recognised the voice of Fatin but don’t remember seeing her. Toni sat me down in an office chair before disappearing only to reappear soon after with two beers and someone I _definitely_ recognised.

“ _Dottie?_ ”


	16. The One With The Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shelby finds out Gretchen's true intentions. Her and Toni get closer as they let themselves get more comfortable around each other

-TONI-

I _thought_ seeing Dot would calm Shelby down, so when it had the opposite effect I froze to the spot.

“You didn’t think to give me a heads up?” Shelby shouted. “We’ve been fighting these people while you’ve been slipping them _secret_ _information_?”

“Shelby can you calm down? I thought you’d be happy!”

“ _Happy?!_ ” Shelby shouted at almost double the volume. “You ordered a Plan B to what, expose us?”

“They told me to!” Dot defended, and I was thankful when Fatin stepped in.

“We knew what we were signing up for,” she explained. “No one had to go into it if they didn’t want to. We had a briefing. Everyone out there knew the risks.”

Shelby sat back down, popping open a third beer skilfully with her thumb and throwing back half the bottle before setting it back down on my desk. “I just don’t _get_ it.”

That was something I could explain. “We’ve been working with Dot for months now. Your boss is fucking crazy, you know that right?”

Shelby swallowed, playing with her necklace as she always did when she was nervous. I could tell she wasn’t sure what to believe, so when I found myself walking over and kneeling in front of her, hands holding hers warmly, I tried my best to be strong enough for the two of us.

I didn’t feel strong, not physically anyway. I was worn out and tired and my back hurt from the _two_ times Shelby had fucking decked me. But I gave everything I could to be there for her emotionally.

“The whole ‘Unsinkables’ project is just some fucked up social experiment, Shelbs,” Dot explained. “I don’t get how Gretchen found all of us, but when she did I think having all these people with superpowers doing her bidding kinda went to her head. She just kept pushing but it got too far.”

“I’ll frickin’ say,” Shelby muttered, her hands finally squeezing against mine. 

“We think it’s to do with testing human condition or something,” Fatin interjected. “She’s just using you.”

“Why’d none of y’all say anythin’?” Shelby snapped, her accent coming out thicker than usual.

“We needed you to find your own way out of it to prove the hold she has on us can be broken,” Dot let out in a sigh, knowing how stupid it was.

That was Young’s idea. Dot had protested, of course. Said it was unfair on the rest of The Unsinkables. He’d been harsh, and a part of me thought he was just trying to play Gretchen at her own game considering he was playing with a mental mind-field just as much as she was, but another part of me knew it made sense. If they couldn’t break themselves out of the hero-complex Gretchen Klein set up for them, what hope did we have? The _known_ enemy.

“Are we tellin’ Rachel and Nora?” she asked even though we all knew the answer.

Dot shook her head. “We can’t.”

Shelby nodded sadly before looking into my eyes and grabbing her beer, drinking the rest of it in one. I’d seen her drink before, but I couldn’t help the small part of me that was kinda impressed. “You got anythin’ a little stronger?”

“Oh honey,” Fatin cut in. “I’ll fix you something up _right_ now.”

***

We’d all made our way to the training room. Wherever Shelby went, she seemed in awe at _everything_ ; from the lights to the training equipment and various gadgets littered around. When we got into the training room, Fatin set out shot glasses she’d made Dot carry and filled them all full-to-the-brim. She handed Shelby the first one and she eyed it for all of two seconds before throwing it down her throat. Her eyes squeezed shut as the alcohol burned, but she swallowed it anyway and handed the glass back to Fatin who was quick to pour out another shot.

If you took away the fact Shelby and Dot were still in their _stupid_ tight-fitting costumes, and I didn’t look like some sort of SAS spy as well as the way the three of us looked like we’d gone three rounds with Rocky, the whole thing felt remarkably normal. _Maybe I just needed to convince myself it was a Halloween party?_

Shelby downed another shot of vodka with a wince before getting to her feet and looking around the room. Her eyes fell on the heavy sandbag I often used and she wandered over to it tracing her fingers lightly over the rough vinyl fabric of the bag.

“You use this?” she asked.

I got to my feet to join her, leaving my full shot on the floor where I was sat. “Yeah,” I said with a smile, placing an open hand on the bag. “You can thank this guy for that mean right hook of mine.”

“Ah,” Shelby said with a smile. “Nice to finally have somethin’ to blame. That shit _hurts_.”

I hated that I knew this was just another moment waiting to be ruined by the reality of our lives. As if Shelby could read my mind, she let out a sigh and leant against the mirrored wall just behind the bag.

“D’ya ever just think about runnin’ away?” she muttered. “Leave this whole thing, ditch college and just… I don’t know.”

“Start fresh?” I offered, joining her.

“I’m so frickin tired, Toni,” she let out in a whisper. “This is all too much too fast. Six months ago I met you, then suddenly I was whisked up with these people just like me and gettin’ fitted for a costume and then I was fighting _you_ every other night and I just-” she stopped to take a breath. “I can’t handle it.”

“Shelby,” I muttered, wanting to say so much more, but my voice couldn’t find the words.

“If you two wanted some privacy you coulda just said,” came Fatin’s voice, and from the slur of her words it was safe to assume the alcohol had started hitting her.

Without another words, me and Shelby returned to the group. We had a couple more shots and the buzz of the alcohol was obvious as we all started getting a little more rowdy. Dot decided to one up Shelby’s ‘Disco Lights’ (which consisted of her turning them off and on in differing patterns so it felt like we were at a disco – _Creative, I know_ ) by teleporting us all over The Watchdog’s facility which was surprisingly fun until she accidently transported us right into Director Young’s office.

“Oh, uh… Hey, sir,” she slurred, tripping slightly as she spun around.

“Dorothy,” he said, though his eyes levelled on Fatin.

“What?” she scoffed, hands still clutching the vodka bottle. “Blondie was like, freaking out. She wanted to loosen up.”

“I can confirm I am as loose as a goose in a gaggle,” Shelby giggled out.

I snorted out a laugh and pushed her shoulder in jest and she returned with a light push of her own and we both end up in the floor in a fit of laughter. And once again, the whole thing _would’ve_ been so incredibly normal if it weren’t for abnormality of our location.

“Actually, Jadmani,” Young’s voice cut in as I managed to pull Shelby up. “Are you aware of Rilke’s return later today?”

“Yeah,” Fatin beamed proudly. “I’m picking her up later.”

“Mm,” hummed Young. “Maybe consider sobering up then, hmm?”

He marched out of his office and we all stayed quite for roughly a second after the door clicked shut before we all burst out into laughter again, tears developing in my eyes from chuckling _so_ hard. We all stopped pretty much in unison with some lingering drawn out laughs, smiles plastered on our faces.

“So, uh…” Dot trailed off.

“We should get goin’,” Shelby interjected, linking her arm with mine. “We’ve got classes and all.”

“Pfff you two are still doing classes? I dropped out when this whole _thing_ started getting real,” Fatin berated.

“Hey, me too,” Dot smiled. “You wanna get a flat or something? They’re kicking me out of my dorm this Friday.”

“ _Flat_? Dorothy, come on,” Fatin tutted. “We’ll get a big-ass kondo – Leah’s coming too though.”

“Fine by me,” Dot said, throwing up her arms in agreement.

“We getting an invite or nah?” I cut in, wrapping my fingers in Shelby’s. 

Fatin waved me off, opening the office door. “Get to your classes bitch.” She basically pushed me and Shelby out of the door and I couldn’t help but laugh lightly.

We left, arm in arm, making our way back to our dorm as we chatted about boring, mundane things we hadn’t had the chance to talk about for what felt like weeks. We picked up some dominos and stumbled into our dorm, passing out on the floor after another hour’s worth of drunken conversation.

I woke up someway through the middle of the night wrapped up in Shelby, her citrus-sweet smell filling my senses, and all I could think was how easy this whole world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks as always for your comments and kudos :)
> 
> This chapters a bit more plot than action, but we're wrapping things up so we need to tie up some loose ends lol
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed, and as always, constructive criticism is welcome <3


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